When more than 35 student groups collaborate to generate campus-wide environmental awareness, it is nothing but important. The first annual Green Week represents this unprecedented cooperation and features a variety of conferences, classes and films aiming to inform students of eco-friendly practices. The week began Friday and ends on Earth Day, April 22.

Although it is surprising that 2008 marks the first Green Week, it is a positive step toward inciting action among the student body. The environmental movement carries significant weight for UW-Madison students given the university’s dependence on the Charter Street Coal Plant, the city’s struggle to purify contaminated lakes and the state’s efforts to develop clean-energy alternatives to foreign oil.

From the campus to the city and across Wisconsin borders, students are impacted by the environmental hazards generated by human activity. Celebrities and politicians have even adopted eco-friendly platforms to bring attention to the “inconvenient truth” that our environment is deteriorating. Yet, the green movement must be more than the new black—the environmental movement cannot be a trend.

Thanks to Green Week and the activism of every student involved in the initiative, students can learn how to adopt eco-friendly lifestyles. This weeklong event will prove successful if students earnestly engage in the events and rethink their daily habits—whether drinking bottled water or littering—and make changes.

These events can benefit the students, city and university. All members of the campus community should attend one or more event.

Take the first step toward living the green life, and toss this newspaper in the recycling when you’re done reading it. Or better yet, reuse it to swat a fly, wrap a gift or mulch strawberries this spring.

In the words of Jeff Rolling, chair of Green Week sponsor Wisconsin Student Public Interest Group, “What you do day in and day out can really have an impact on the environment.” Participate in Green Week and join the movement.