Using resources we already have is the right idea

It's one of those situations where it's like, "why didn't we think of this before?"

Marshall University's Sustainability Department is in the process of working out a plan to loan bicycles to students.

The department is looking to use resources it already has to provide the equipment needed for the program. Two bikes have already been donated, and the Green Fee may be used to supply four more bikes, some locks and helmets. The recreation center may be chosen to hold the bikes when they are not being used and the program could possibly provide two paying jobs for Marshall students.

The word sustainability means the capacity to endure. We can only hope to thrive if we use what has been given us in full capacity. We are a world that is always looking toward the newest thing, but some of the best things are what we already have.

The bike program is a great idea. It will be the ultimate excuse for students to ditch their cars a few times a week, save some greenhouse gases and take a bike to class or in town. It's so simple and could have been done all along, that it almost seems silly.

That's it though. We shouldn't have to feel like we need to have all the education we can get or be lucky enough to be on a world-class research team to actually think of something cool to invent. We just need to stop and look around us and take a second glance at what's already at our disposable.

It's so easy to throw stuff away or stick it in a corner after a year or two. But this shouldn't be our philosophy anymore. When we use the things we already have, we save resources and money.

That's where the green part comes in, too. Almost all things Earth-friendly are about reusing products for multiple purposes. The Sustainability Department lives up to its name, and the rest of the campus needs to follow its lead. We voted for this Green Fee. We have already shown our support for the green movement. Now, we need to do more. We need to commit ourselves to more action.

Being college students may place us in one of the easiest positions to make a difference. We have resources, ideas and people all around us. If we just look a little closer, it's definitely possible to find what's been under our noses the whole time.