Fulbright FLTA Newsletter

How Green Are You?

Elis Homsini Maolida, 2008-2009, Indonesia (second from right) with colleagues from Johns Hopkins SAIS

In a broader sense, the paradox applies not only to water but to any natural resource.  If we use resources inappropriately, it will impact our lives as well as those of the next generation.  In my opinion, what we do today – even if it seems like a drop in the bucket - will have a huge impact.  This point should be realized by more people.  Otherwise, all the seemingly perfect green ideas will remain only ideas.  Or, people might be overwhelmed by rules for living greener and become skeptical.

How about you?  Are you a green Fulbright FLTA? Here is my list of the top ten green characteristics of a Fulbright FLTA.

You are "green" if you:

1. Recycle and reuse items you've consumed or at least separate your trash.  Of course, reducing the amount of stuff you consume is a first step.
2. Save energy as much as you can and unplug appliances when not in use; wash clothes in cold water; use a clothesline to dry your clothes; reduce usage of paper towels and tissues; use two sides of a piece of paper when printing or copying materials; take short showers; reduce your use of an air conditioner and a heater in your room (except in severe weather - otherwise you'd freeze or melt!).
3. Drink filtered tap water rather than bottled water.  Use a reusable bottle and fill it with filtered tap water.
4. Use neither paper nor plastic bags.  Instead, choose a reusable bag for shopping or reuse and keep plastic shopping bags.
5. Are aware of the contents or ingredients of everything you wear and put on, including your outfit and cosmetics.  When shopping, check labels for ingredients to see whether they are harmful or not for the environment, choose organic cotton, and of course avoid leather or fur because it is cruel to animals and your clothing choices influence the balance of nature.
6. Walk and bike to work or take public transportation if you can.  If you have enough money and you must travel by car, prefer hybrid cars.  Or, choose a train over air travel, even though trains can be more expensive and take longer.  You feel happy saving energy.
7. Buy second hand items from craigslist or other retailers, garage sales and thrift stores, and borrow from libraries instead of buying books.
8. Are aware of the foods you eat.  Buy locally grown produce, consume organic food, eat an occasional meatless meal (even if you eat meat, you prefer organic meat), or follow a vegetarian diet.  During the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., a volunteer gave me a pamphlet which said that we shouldn't eat meat just as we shouldn't smoke cigarettes or take drugs since meat is another kind of harmful drug.  It makes sense, but unfortunately, I can't stop eating meat. I hope that the anti-meat volunteer will forgive me for going to a kabob restaurant after I read the pamphlet!  I like vegetables, but I eat meat at least once in a week. 
9. Try to use alternative energy options for powering everything you need: wind power, hybrid sources and others.
10. Plant more trees.  You can never plant enough trees!  Trees are our hope for today and the future.
11. Last but not least, volunteer or become an environmental activist.  Try to promote going green; encourage your friends to foster eco-friendly attitudes and even wear things related to the green campaign (hat, pins, t-shirts, bags).  I for one consider myself a real green Fulbright FLTA!

Top Ten Ways To Know A Fulbright FLTA Has Gone Green

1. A Fulbright FLTA collects every can, plastic and glass bottle after a party and carries them to the supermarket to have them recycled.
2. A Fulbright FLTA is irritated to see his or her roommate putting paper boxes, wrapping paper - basically any paper items - into the mixed trash bin without separating them.  The Fulbright FLTA's immediate impulse is to take those items out of the mixed trash and put them in the correct bin for recycling!
3. A Fulbright FLTA gets excited by the sight of people who have gone green on the streets but then realizes that it's only St. Patrick’s Day.
4. A Fulbright FLTA checks the weather report everyday to decide what temperature the heater should be adjusted to and opens the windows when the heater is off.
5. A Fulbright FLTA recycles water by washing vegetables first, then using the same water to mop the floor and flush the toilet, although one should probably remind him or her that using water multiple times wouldn't work the other way around.
6. A Fulbright FLTA turns off every light when he or she thinks there’s no one in a room and sometimes needs to apologize if someone has accidentally been left in the dark.
7. A Fulbright FLTA prefers running outdoors instead of using machines in the gym.
8. A Fulbright FLTA keeps asking you not to consume that much chewing gum but consume mints instead.  Once you take out your chewing gum after meal and see a Fulbright FLTA's long face, you grin until you see the long face disappear, but then suddenly feel soreness in your jaw from chewing gum.
9. When you yourself have been “infected" and gone green and wonder how it happened, a green Fulbright FLTA tells you that only your hand is green and you've still got long way to go.

This was supposed to be a top 10 list, right?  Well, a green Fulbright FLTA always believes less is more for the sake of being green!

To comment on Qing Zhuang's article on State Alumni, please click here.