HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall’s campus is finding new ways to become a little bit more true to their main color–
green.
Starting this coming semester, students will be able to check out bicycles to ride around campus for free through a new “Eco Bike Loan Program”. Students, faculty and staff can check out the bikes, like a library book, just by using their Marshall ID number.
Amy Parsons-White is the sustainability coordinator for Marshall University and said the school has been working very hard recently to become more eco-friendly and more healthy.
“This is a great program that will increase activity, promote healthy lifestyles on campus and reduce some of the parking issues and things we’ve had here on campus,” she said.
There will be 30 bikes on campus for students to use spread out at three different stations to make it even more convenient. The bikes’ tires will be locked until a student uses their ID number to unlock them either through an app on their phones or on a solar panel on the bike.
Some parts of Huntington can be far for students to travel to, so Parsons-White said this program should help combat some transportation problems.
“You want to go to the grocery store, you want to go to Pullman, a lot of people don’t want to walk that far, so it’s going to be easier to just jump on a bike,” she said.
Marshall’s fall semester begins Aug. 20, and the program will be up and running then for students to use to travel to class. Parsons-White said due to campus expansions having these bikes is a benefit.
“Our campus is also expanding into the city, like right now we have the Arts Center down in front of Pullman Square,” she said. “So now a student can get on a bike and ride their bike to class instead of having to drive and look for parking.”
Some students on Marshall’s campus do not have access to a car to use to drive themselves to the places they need to get, so having these free bikes gives them an alternative means of transportation.
“A lot of students on our campus don’t have cars, so this will offer them a way to get to the grocery store or downtown or around to their classes,” Parsons-White added.
Other new recycling efforts will be starting with the beginning of the fall semester to make Marshall even more considerate of the environment.
“We’re really working hard to make Marshall a more green campus, more sustainable,” Parsons-White said. “We have the perfect name, ‘We’re Marshall green.'”
Story by Jordyn Johnson