About twice a semester, students and faculty gather in the Center for Service and Justice for the “Green Bag Lunch.”  The most recent Green Bag Lunch was held on United Nations World Water Day, March 22.  The topic discussed was “Water and Food Security: Our World is Thirsty Because We Are Hungry”.

College of Arts & Sciences senior Anna Green helped plan and run the event.

“It is important to conserve water and other resources because we are using them faster than they are replenishing themselves,” Greene said. “By wastefully using resources, such as clean, drinkable water, we are not considering the viability of our future and those around the world.”

Dave DeBoer, an employee at the Omaha Metropolitan Utilities District, discussed the major uses of energy in the daily lives of Omaha residents. The majority of our water usage in Nebraska is for agriculture, however, conservation of water in the home is still necessary. Also, the largest sector of carbon emissions is due to transportation.

David Aiken, a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, focused on the global water issues and their direct links to industrial agriculture. Aiken touched on the runoff from agriculture and pesticides used Midwest states that contribute to the pollution of the Gulf of Mexico. Aiken also discussed that water in urban areas, especially Omaha, is very inexpensive. Unless water usage is expensive or there is a shortage, people rarely think twice about the amount of water they use and ultimately waste each day.

“I hope that the staff, faculty, students and other community members that attended this event will walk away with a better understanding of why water conservation is a personal issue and a global issue,” Green said. “I hope people realize that we not only need to conserve water in our own homes and lives but make larger water conservation policies in regards to agriculture. I hope students think twice about their constant accessibility and affordable flow of water. This is something that the majority of the world does not understand.”

Creighton is heading in the direction of a sustainable campus. With support of many faculty committees and Fr. Lannon, we are becoming more and more committed to these issues.

There will be one more Green Bag Lunch this year on Earth Day, April 18, in the Harper Center as students present on “Climate Refugees: A Humanitarian Cause”.