Student Spotlight: Martha Hoffman

Post date: Jan 24, 2017 9:33:9 PM

What prompted you to certify/ Why did you think it was important to certify your room?

I certified last year and it was fun to analyze my room in terms of green-ness. I hadn’t done that before! I wanted to do it again this year, now that I live in a single.

Do you feel that this program is a good way to increase campus-wide sustainability?

I think it’s a good start. It inspired conversations with my friends who saw the certificate on my door. I would love to see more people take the survey. It can serve as a good reminder to rethink the habits you keep.

As the president of Oberlin Meditators and an OCOC Trip Leader, do you believe your experiences with nature have been a huge factor in your motivation to be sustainable?

Part of why I care so much about the environment and why I was excited to participate in this program is because of the real impacts I see the environment make on myself and community members. Leading an OCOC trip this past fall break reminded me of how essential nature is to our brains (especially coming from stressful/chaotic environments like Oberlin). By the end of the trip, I felt so stable and rejuvenated! National Geographic published an article this year about the actual effects being outside has on our physical/mental functioning-- definitely recommend reading it. In my view, meditation and the environment tie together well. It’s funny, but the more I meditate, the more likely I am to spend time outside. The “great outdoors,” even if it’s a small park or the bike path, never fails to serve as a cleansing place for my mind. I’m not an Environmental Studies major, so I don’t understand as well as I should the macro-view of Earth’s environment (i.e. climate change, human use and abuse of our environment, social and political dynamics, etc.). However, I DO know how transformative it is for my lungs to breathe clean air and my eyes to soak in green leaves and mountains. It’s crucial to reframe our wasteful attitudes toward our micro and macro environments so that the Earth can continue to support us, and we can continue to support it.

Has sustainability always been a major part of your life? What was your hometown community like?

I grew up in the middle of organic farms and conservation land, and among many avid nature-lovers. Sustainability and awareness of the environment has always been a big theme in my life. About ten years ago, my family installed solar panels on our roof as part of a statewide incentive program. We produce 120% of our energy needs now! There’s also a pretty rad swap table at our town dump. 50% of my family’s furniture is from there, for sure.

What would your perfect sustainable campus look like?

If every building were designed like the AJLC, I’d be pretty happy. There’s so much more that I’d have to research before answering this, though, especially about our food/water consumption and investments.

Name three sustainable activities that you love to participate in here at Oberlin: (ie bike rides with friends, ecolympics, making bottle bots etc)

The bike path. V flat. V nice. V sustainable.

My friends and I turn out our room lights sometimes to have dance parties.

Some friends and I compete against each other for going the longest time without buying anything new. This gets ridiculous especially when Oberlin free boxes get involved.

What is your biggest sustainability pet peeve?

Potentially a controversial subject… But oh my gosh I don’t understand why people flush the toilet after they pee!? It’s literally just different colored liquid. No one is going to die if they see it for two seconds. Washing hands is good, though. Preventing the spread of contagious diseases is generally a good plan.