For a sustainable campus, Chatham University has focused one of their mission statements to be an environment friendly campus. The members of the University take pride of the 115 different species of trees and various other plant life.

With so much natural beauty, Chatham has begun to neglect the roads that travel throughout the campus. Due to weather overtime, the roads deteriorate to create potholes. Potholes and cracks make the roads uneven, in turn, making the roads unsafe for members of the Chatham community.

 

The recent winter Pittsburgh experienced left the roads in particulary bad conditions. When they are left in these settings, vehicles parked or driving around can damage their alignment because of how imbalanced they are. They also create a hazard for students and faculty walking around Chatham University. An individual who currently walks on the roads surrounding Chatham has the potential to step into a pothole and trip or cause serious injury to themselves.

 

There are many options of repairing asphalt roads, not many of them are environmentally friendly. However, for companies such as Unique Pavements Materials Coporations, have developed a cold-mix solution that is 100% recyclable. In 1990, their business had also created Kold Flo, a mixture that allows the use of cold applied crack filler. Using cold rather than a hot mixture eliminates the use of a hot kettle, limiting vapors and odors that are released into the atmosphere.

 

As we continue to preserve our nature, we neglect other aspects of our environment in favor of subtracting harmful substances towards it. Because of this, we fail to see the opportunity our technology has given us to modify our ways of living to become environmentally safe. If the ultimate goal of Environmentalism is to preserve our environment, shouldn’t altering ways of road repair to be eco-friendly be an outcome? Under that assumption, instead of overlooking the conditions of the roads surrounding Chatham University, its essential to create a way to preserve them as well as the nature of the Chatham community.

(photos-Chatham University)