Student organization campaigns for sustainable paper
Photo Courtesy of ELAN
The Environmental Leadership and Actions Network (ELAN) is an off-campus student organization in Ithaca dedicated to environmental and social justice through direct action. ELAN integrates National Greenpeace Student Network campaigns with the needs of our local community.
Last semester, we launched Operation Tiger, a national campaign working to save the rainforest of Indonesia from illegal deforestation. We’re aiming to make changes to Ithaca College’s paper policies as part of a global effort to fight this deforestation. Our campaign puts the plight of the Sumatran Tiger front and center. Since the use of paper at colleges like ours encourages massive paper plantations in places like Sumatra, an island in Indonesia, our tiger friends there are nearing extinction — there are fewer than 400 tigers left. We ended last semester with a bang: a flash mob in the library thanking them for upholding IC’s paper policy by using 30 percent post-consumer recycled paper. But 30 percent just isn’t enough.
This semester we are planning on meeting with faculty members and the administration to campaign for IC to use 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper. Without this policy, 70 percent or more of the paper content we use comes straight from plantation forests, and we want IC to become a leader in stopping global climate change and deforestation. Keep your eyes open for more flash-mobs, theatrics and tons of ways to plug in!
Also on our agenda this semester is recruitment. We’re looking for more students at IC to get involved in this national campaign. Operation Tiger affects all IC students — we all use paper and we’re all responsible for our college’s consumption. Our meetings are held on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on 505 S. Cayuga St. A group of us usually takes the bus down from Park at 6:45 p.m.
Abby Togliatti is a sophomore clinical health studies major who is a member of ELAN. Email her at atoglia1[at]ithaca[dot]edu.