October celebrates National Breast Cancer Awareness, Healthy Lungs Awareness, Down Syndrome Awareness, as well as a number of other observances. 

The Office of Sustainability at The University of Southern Mississippi will host No Impact Week in November in honor of energy efficiency and climate control.

There has been a current increase in the popularity of climate change and how it can be prevented. 

No Impact Week is a one-week “carbon cleanse” that will allow individuals to experience the difference that lowering their impact can have on their quality of life, community and the planet. Participants will work through a series of daily challenges, from decreasing trash production and home energy use, to eating locally. 

The national program is based on the real life experiences of Colin Beavan, an American non-fiction writer noted for recording his attempts to live a zero impact lifestyle for a year in New York City. 

Beavan’s blog reports, “The way I see it, waiting for the senators and the CEOs to change the way we treat the world is taking too long. Polar bears are already drowning because the polar ice is melting.”

 There will also be campus-wide activities during No Impact Week which will focus on different daily themes.

“Conserving energy is important on both a personal and societal level,” said Christina Foreman, sustainability coordinator. “As an individual, conserving energy reduces the amount of carbon you produce and also saves you money by lowering your utility bills.” 

Many college students may feel that neglecting to turn off lights within residence halls does not affect them because they do not have to pay an electric bill, but it helps the environment and is a great habit to form. 

“Individual energy conservation efforts benefit society as a whole by reducing the overall demand for power production,” Foreman said. “Fewer power plants means that fewer greenhouse gasses are produced, reducing the demand for fossil fuels.” 

No Impact Week will take place Nov. 9-16. Students, faculty and staff can register at NoImpactProject.org or usm.edu/green. Ideas on how to practice sustainability everyday can be found on either webpage.