Live Green: Your Campus Map to a Healthy and Sustainable Semester
Babson is pretty proud of our school colors of white and green. In fact, our student population and campus emulate these colors every day. Outside, there’s foliage and evergreens hidden behind the mountains of snows; inside, we are energy efficient in implementing hand driers, smart light switches, and using eco-friendly materials.
Since the semester has started, there have been some changes around campus. For example, there is a ton of new space in Park Manor West for group meetings or study sessions. Since the new building is energy saving, students can feel guilt free about all the late night studying.
Recently our Trim Dining Hall has started offering some awesome new options for eating green as well. My friends and I all love the new smoothie station and enhanced salad bar. For off campus dining, Volante Farms has amazing fresh sandwiches and pastries. Recently, I’ve gotten to know the company better since my FME business has partnered with them to deliver fresh produce onto campus. Volante supports not only local farmers, but also living a cleaner, organic lifestyle. My friends and I also love going to Whole Foods on the weekends and stocking up on snacks for the week- my favorites are raspberries and sea salt popcorn.
Another way to stay healthy during the winter is working out! The Webster Center is a great place to work out and socialize. There are always people there, rather it’s a varsity sports team or a friend squeezing in a half hour run before class (usually that’s me!) My favorite workout recently has been staggered running on the treadmill- you run for 5 minutes at a time, building up the pace throughout your workout until you reach a desired time. It’s a great way to build up endurance and a nice challenge when I’m not able to run outside!
Sometimes it’s difficult sometimes to get to the gym if the sidewalks are icy or covered with snow, so I just clear off some space in my dorm room, put down a yoga mat, and watch and work out to “Blogilates” on YouTube! She’s a super enthusiastic and knowledgeable trainer that does instructional videos set to music- it doesn’t even feel like you’re working out.
These changes are great, but I’m most excited for the return of warm weather and when we will be able to bike around campus and fire up the community grills again. As the days get longer, not only are we saving electricity, but will have more opportunities to go out and make a difference. This spring, I’m looking forward to giving back and volunteering. Until then, I’ll be bundling up and trying out new, healthy recipes with friends.