Be the WE

This column features the We Conserve program and its work on campus.

This year’s Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR) program gave incoming freshmen the opportunity to learn more than the layout of campus and how to register for classes. They were also exposed to the university’s commitment to promoting sustainability.

We Conserve, in conjunction with the Center for the First-Year Experience, has added an encouragement of responsible energy use to the list of important messages delivered to new students.

SOAR tried to reduce the amount of waste the program generated by providing students with reusable bags to hold their orientation materials and a stainless steel water bottle.

In addition, students were given the chance to sign a pledge stating their intent to reduce the ecological impact of their daily routines. These pledges advocated doing small, simple things like taking shorter showers or turning off the lights when leaving a room.

Perhaps the most memorable addition to the SOAR program was We Conserve’s electric drive truck. Blasting music and handing out many students’ first-ever scoop of Babcock Hall ice cream, the truck was an entertaining way to deliver an important message.

The goal of all these initiatives was to instill the spirit of environmental stewardship in students so that they might recognize it as an integral part of what it means to be a member of the UW–Madison community.

“When you come to Madison, you are going to get a great education, be a Badger, have lots of fun and recognize the importance of your role in protecting the environment,” explains Faramarz Vakili, director of We Conserve.

“By engaging the incoming freshmen, in four years most students will have had exposure to this important issue, so hopefully the campus will be an environment in which an appreciation of sustainability and conservation is the norm,” he adds.

The vision and willingness of Center for the First-Year Experience to make We Conserve’s message a part of their message is an excellent example of what it means to “Be the We.”

This phrase is not necessarily a slogan, but more of an encouragement and invitation. It represents the idea that the conservation movement is not limited to individual university programs such as We Conserve. Instead, it is the recognition that without the “we” there cannot be leadership and progress toward true sustainability.

To “Be the WE” is to think outside of yourself or your department and recognize the universal value of protecting our mutual resources.