Christianity Today
by Cindy Crosby
May 25, 2007
Flush twice. It's required at Calvin College's Vincent and Helen Bunker Interpretive Center's restrooms; once before, once after.The flushed water, which is the consistency of a bubble bath,washes waste to an underground room. There, preserve manager CherylHoogewind and I climb up on a metal receptacle and look into a huge bin of waste that smells pleasantly of wood chips. This compost will eventually be spread as fertilizer on the college grounds.
Above us in the 5,000-square-foot building, a student-designed solar photo voltaic system generates electricity from sunlight; meanwhile, gray water from drinking fountains and sinks nourishes plants lining the classroom windowsills. It's all part of the Bunker Center's environmental sustainability.
Integrating creation care with academics is a growing emphasis on Christian campuses around the country. According to Paul Corts, president of the interdenominational Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), about 40 of 105 North American memberschools have adopted significant green initiatives. These vary considerably, from multimillion-dollar sustainable "villages" and student volunteer educational programs to majors in environmentalstudies and recycling pop cans in school cafeterias. There is also national action.
Last November, 30 Christian college students met in Washington,D.C., to present elected officials with the Evangelical Youth Climate Initiative (EYCI), signed by 1,500 Christian students. EYCI is an independent effort of young evangelicals to follow up on last February's Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI), signed by 86 Christian leaders (including 39 Christian college presidents).
Amanda Benavides, a sophomore at Point Loma Nazarene Universityin San Diego, says, "Going to Washington was just another step toward discovering new aspects of my faith in God and ways to serve him."
Network building is gaining momentum. In January, an environmental summit on the Wheaton College campus brought together Christian college students from all over the United States. "We need to cultivate younger leadership," says Wheaton College seniorand environmental studies major Ben Lowe. "Rather than reinventing the wheel, we can share ideas, offer feedback, and cooperate with each other."
Many students come to college believing that environmentalism has little to do with their faith. College is often the first time they are challenged to think differently.
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