Evergreen State College in Olympia , WA has taken on the rarely addressed issue of college students with mental disorders. Their facility and program emphasizes another aspect of the importance of a clean and healthy environment. We are all greatly affected by our environment and when one is hyper sensitive to their surroundings, a clean and pleasant environment is keen.
The nontraditional college has approximately 4400 students. In addition to a well crafted educational program, the campus has its own organic farm which helps to eliminate not only toxins from the student body’s diet, but also ease the minds of those with compulsive disorders. The on site composting program promotes social interaction and allows the students to help make a difference in their community. Based upon the article in the NYT, it seems that this campus may be eligible for LEED certification since they have integrated a waste management program and provide space and monitor carpoolers and bicycle commuters.
Parents of the students say that they have seen positive results by sending their children to the college as compared to the other colleges. Thankfully, there is more of a tendency for existing schools and new schools to implement an environmentally friendly campus. LEED is making a new rating system specifically for schools
You can find it under the following topic(s): Gardening, Green Business, Green Design, Op/Ed, Organic.
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I’ve always wondered if there are any good books or articles detailing how environmental toxins affect mental health. If they are known to cause cancer, is it really a leap to think they might affect the balance of brain chemistry? We hear about how much more mental illness there is now, more than ever before- some people say it’s because now we diagnose it and can treat it, but what if it’s the result of environmental chemicals? And how do we prove that?
December 11th, 2006 at 7:12 pmCheck out this link, http://www.informedesign.com/Rs.aspx?s=issues&tId=843
I was introduced to this site back in school. Informe Design contains various studies and papers written on the design environment and its effects on the occupants. There are articles that are “environmentally” based with in some of the records.
December 11th, 2006 at 8:05 pm