Environmental Well-being
The ability to recognize the limits of the earth’s natural resources, realizing the effects of daily habits on the world around us and living a life accountable to environmental needs.
Campus Resources for Environmental Wellness
- Garnet Go Green - Student-athletes, coaches, and staff from the Swarthmore College Department of Athletics are working together to reduce the environmental impact of the Garnet athletics programs. They have teamed up with organizations such as the National Resources Defense Council and the Green Sports Alliance in order to achieve this goal.
- The President's Sustainability Research Fellows: In the President’s Sustainability Research Fellowship (PSRF) at Swarthmore College, students learn by leading: by taking stewardship over vital sustainability challenges. The program matches motivated students with small teams of staff and faculty mentors to research, develop, and implement projects in a year-long course and associated internship.
- Sustainability Community: Sustainability at Swarthmore is a collective effort that engages the work, vision, and creativity of students, faculty, and staff across many divisions of the College. Our campus commitments address climate change and other environmental risks by using natural resources in a sustainable manner and educating our community.
- Get Involved in Sustainability On Campus: Sustainability is a community-wide effort at Swarthmore. From planting trees to composting your lunch, students, faculty, and staff are actively engaged in the work of keeping our planet healthy.
- Become a Green Advisor: The Green Advisors (GAs) are student workers of the Office of Sustainability who work to encourage sustainable lifestyles among all Swarthmore community members. The GAs facilitate environmentally just behaviors in the residence halls, work to reduce campus waste generation, oversee the campus composting system, serve as liaisons to the Sustainability Advocates program, host engaging and educational all-campus events, produce resources to inform the community about best practices, and generally serve as peer leaders.
Community Resources for Environmental Wellness
Examples of Activities that Improve Environmental Wellness
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Compost - carry a water bottle for your water, tea, coffee, and encourage your teammates to join you
- Reduce your carbon footprint by taking public transportation instead of using private vehicles
- Reuse materials as much as you can in your dorm, classroom and on your team
- Adopt a "Leave-No-Trace" ethos wherever you go, having as little impact on the earth as you can
- Conserve water and fuels in your every day life
- Spend time in the outdoors - from the Crum Woods to our State and National Park
SWATWELL Pulse Check:
Are you engaged in the process of environmental wellness?
Evaluate your own environmental wellness with this brief quiz.
- Do I recycle?
- Do I carry a water bottle and refrain from buying plastic bottles of water?
- Do I use reusable grocery bags and refrain from using the plastic bags at stores?
- Am I aware of my surrounding environment and do I take steps to protect it in my every day life?
If you answered "No" to any of the questions, it may indicate an area where you can improve the state of your environmental wellness.
