It’s not easy being green, but there are rewards for those who do make the commitment. Junior Henry Ellison, president of Sigma Nu fraternity, which won last year’s Green Cup, said that house residents went to great lengths for their victory. “The brotherhood was really passionate about saving power,” Ellison said.

Washington University might offer its students almost every service imaginable, but until recently, those services have not extended as far as getting students home for the holidays.

“Washington University in St. Louis is a national leader in sustainability, a core priority that runs through all aspects of our campus community, our operations and our work as a leading research and teaching institution.” These are the words that greet me when I click on “Energy, Environment & Sustainability,” one of the most prominent tabs on the wustl.

Students accustomed to buying bulk quantities of groceries at Paws & Go might have noticed something missing in the past week. Tote Green, a reusable bag initiative featured at Clinton Global Initiative University last year, was started around 10 months ago, culminating in what started last week: a ban on plastic bags at Paws & Go.

Last Thursday, I stood alongside Washington University students in protest. The demonstration targeted Bank of America’s financing of the coal industry; specifically, those corporations engaged in the hazardous and invasive practices of mountaintop coal removal mining in the Appalachian Mountains. Our protest took the form of two separate demonstrations.

Less than a year after student leaders resolved to rid the Danforth Campus of plastic bags, campus groups have implemented alternative means to curb disposable bag use, such as through the student-run Tote Green initiative.

This year’s WILD saw more headlining artists, novel sustainability efforts and new day events, under the direction of the Social Programming Board (SPB), created in November. The concert, which featured performers Yeasayer, Mat Kearney and Atmosphere in a festival-style lineup, was the first to be organized by SPB.

The Green Events Commission’s first-ever Earth Week is intended to raise awareness of sustainability issues on campus and educate students by means of different events and information sessions. The themed week began with a kick-off in Edison Family Courtyard on Monday, which was also Earth Day.

We Wash. U. students pride ourselves on our social and cultural savvy, but like most academics, we’re only too happy to wallow in abstraction. We’ll change our profile pictures in protest against the Defense of Marriage Act but won’t take the time to write our congressional representatives and state lawmakers.

Washington University announced a new $30 million Commitment to Action in sustainability initiatives at its annual Faces of Hope event that featured students chosen to participate in Clinton Global Initiative University.