Some Political Ecology

Rowan University has done a lot of talk about “going green,” Rowan even has posters made, like for their garbage receptacles, to flaunt how “green” they are.   But what makes Rowan green?  I have seen no more green on campus in my 2 years being here, in fact, due to recent construction there is noticeably less greenery.  And what greenery there is now is decorative shrubbery or typical sod.  What Rowan needs to do to go green and promote a healthy ecosystem is to revisit old sites on campus and reevaluate their uses, not just create new spaces.  Unfortunately, this movement will not flow on as smoothly as it should.

One outstanding point of interest is the traffic circle at Robinson and Education Halls.  It is empty space!  Through this lot run a number of concrete paths to a central cement pad, and all of this is surrounded by grass.  This would be a perfect place for real habitat like native trees and bushes; instead it is a useless lot.  Students don’t even do anything in this space, except walk through it on occasion.  What’s worse is that the sidewalks in place do not follow the path students want to take, and on multiple occasions students can be observed walking near but not on the sidewalk.  This is a perfect space to start renovating and it would be naturally and aesthetically bettered by reverting it to a more natural landscape.

The Edgewood garden in Rowan’s sustainable living community is one step in the right direction.  Vacant lot space was converted into planters, which the Edgewood apartment residents maintain.  They plant, care for and then get food or flowers from the garden.  This is among the few redesignations of land around Rowan University that is actually good the environment, not detrimental.

However, there are a number of things that stand in the way of changing land at Rowan: people, rules and money.  First, people have to care about what you’re doing, how do you get them invested in green space?  Even after people are interested in work around Rowan, discussion with RU legislation would have to be opened and all of the pre-existing rules would have to be catered to.  That is, if Rowan’s leaders even want to hear about this.  The big deterrent of change is money; this is what people are concerned with.  Where is there money to do this?  Naturally, money is not a long-term thing and the idea that you could save money by not having to constantly baby a lawn and plant short-living shrubs is too long term to matter.  Any progress toward environmental improvement at Rowan is not going to be without resistance.