Lights on Laurentians: Green House Living: How to be Environmentally Friendly on Campus

Looking over to Park Street from campus, you can immediately tell which house is the Green House. Nestled with its green façade, sits the Green House in all its glory. When walking inside, there is a relaxed vibe in the air. Feel-good music blasting through the speakers, baking going on in the kitchen, and house members sitting around in the living room trying out a new craft.

“It’s all about doing what you can!” says Nick ’20. The Green House is a theme house on campus whose mission is to live and cook environmentally friendly while also raising awareness throughout campus. They have given some advice on how to live a more eco-friendly life.

On this particular day, Josh ’20 is getting creative in the kitchen, preparing some baklava. The Green House focuses mostly on food, which can be hard for students with a meal plan, because they do not know directly where their food is coming from. The Green House is all about consuming food that is locally sourced. For example, they made beet brownies when beets were in season. It is important to eat local and organic food because it can help you restore your health more naturally.

St. Lawrence has recently instituted compost bins in several trash rooms around campus. Composting is better than trashing food waste because not only does it create less waste for a landfill, but compost can also make a great fertilizer. The more people that use the compost bins, the less trash we will have going to our landfills.

Recycling is similar to composting. When we recycle, we limit the amount of trash going to the landfill. The Green House suggests that everyone should take a small amount of time to do their part. Whether it is sorting trash, turning off twinkly lights when leaving the room, or knowing where online orders are coming from, all of these things are important.

Every Monday through Wednesday, a couple of the Green House members are assigned to cook dinner for six campus members. These dinners occur in three week cycles in that you go one day of the week for three weeks in a row and receive a home-cooked meal. For these meals, the Green House tries to use only locally grown and organic products, so with each season, different food is cooked. The Green House will accommodate for any health restrictions making these dinners open for anyone.

Every three weeks, the Green House has a night where students can go to their house and sign up for a dinner slot. These dinners cost $5 each, and the profit goes to a local farm called Birds Foot. The members of the Green House work at this farm in the fall, and in exchange they receive fresh produce.

In addition to their renowned dinners, the Green House is always putting on events around campus to raise awareness. Whether it is a movie night or a protest, the members of the Green House encourage campus to come out and learn about what we can all do to help the environment.

Recycling, turning off your lights, and taking shorter showers aren’t things you should praise yourself for completing. All of these activities are something you should practice every day in order to lessen your impact on the environment. Here at SLU, it can be hard to practice an environmentally friendly lifestyle. However, there are many opportunities on campus to be proactive. Whether it’s bringing your own mug to the pub to get coffee or a smoothie, stopping your use of straws, or visiting the local thrift shops, the little things do add up. Furthermore, if you mention Nick’s name at the thrift shop, you are likely to receive some free swag.

The Green House is a very welcoming space and they are always hosting cool events in their home. Whether you are a full blown tree-hugger and want to be surrounded by other environmentally friendly people, or just want to experience something new, stop by sometime!