When I first glanced at my University’s Green Report Card two years ago, Pitt earned a C — equating to a GPA that reeks of a disinterested hippie. And, to worsen the blow, both Carnegie Mellon and Penn State earned a letter grade better. In the last two years, Pitt has taken many steps to increase its sustainability that have bettered its standing and allowed Pitt to climb to a B minus — equating to a GPA that sounds more like a decent student who’s adjusting to a difficult major but still needs to improve if he or she wants a job.

Purchased electricity is by far the greatest contributor to Pitt’s greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 51 percent of the University’s greenhouse gas emissions. In this regard, Pitt currently has few alternatives: existing in the middle of a city that primarily relies on coal for electricity limits the amount of energy that can come from renewable sources, whereas in University Park, Pa., Penn State can pull from more renewable sources. CMU’s success over Pitt can likely be attributed to the fact that it has a third of Pitt’s student population.

Since 2009, Pitt buildings have installed more efficient light bulbs, as well as motion sensors in areas such as the Cathedral and Market Central, helping to reduce Pitt’s energy consumption. In addition, the school’s engineers are currently researching ways to use Pittsburgh’s rivers in an environmentally friendly way to produce energy.

Pitt has also improved in food waste and recycling recently. After an initiative spurred by Free the Planet, one of the University’s leading student groups in sustainability, campus dining halls have discontinued dining trays, which significantly reduced waste, from food to water to detergent to energy. Pitt also purchased a machine that processes food waste for Market Central, which cut waste by 75 percent, according to a Sustainability at Pitt report.

Although I am just tickled pretty that these changes have caused Pitt’s standing in sustainability to improve, I believe more significant changes must come from the ground up. If the University can lay an infrastructure that rewards positive shifts in behavior, it will allow improvements to accumulate; changes start small and grow.

For example, what if a few floors in resident halls served as pilots for testing green initiatives?

I see possibilities all around us: a biweekly competition within resident halls that rewards the floor that used the least amount of electricity with pizza or free meal passes/dining dollars. The amount that the University would save in energy as the program caught on would easily offset the cost of rewards while fostering the community aspect of dorm life.

What if the University donated high-quality reusable grocery bags to incoming students and rewarded them with 10-percent discounts for using them at different on campus venues? The program with a 10-percent discount could be piloted one dorm floor at a time and then be assessed to see if the cost of the project would outweigh the rewards. If Pitt’s reusable bags and discount could catch onto Oakland businesses, those businesses could also benefit by spending less on bags.

The effects and results of such projects tend to snowball. In Ireland, the government implemented a tax on plastic bags, requiring retailers to charge the equivalent of 33 U.S. cents per plastic bag. The revenue generated from the tax finances environmental programs. Since 2002, plastic bag consumption has decreased 94 percent and the reduction in waste is plainly visible to visitors, according to The New York Times.

Pitt is not the government of Ireland, and sustainability is not at the top of its agenda. Its agenda is to become an effective university. Yet, I am convinced that engaging in green practices and becoming pioneers in the field is not only attainable, but will also inevitably bolster the University’s national reputation, and positively impact its community and student body. We need to catch up and outperform the schools around us. CMU recently built the United States’ first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified dorm. Pitt must undertake similar and bigger endeavors and realize that its responsibility is not merely to produce better scholars; it is to produce better men and women and to improve the world around it.

E-mail Mike at [email protected].