Princeton Students Visit Greensburg
In the wake of a tornado that leveled Greensburg, Kan., in May 2007, local residents forged an ambitious plan to rebuild the small agricultural town with a focus on sustainability. For a group of Princeton students who traveled there over fall break, this effort became an important lesson both in environmental awareness and civic engagement.
In the wake of a tornado that leveled Greensburg, Kan., in May 2007, local residents forged an ambitious plan to rebuild the small agricultural town with a focus on sustainability. For a group of Princeton students who traveled there over fall break, this effort became an important lesson both in environmental awareness and civic engagement.
Parsons said the students came away with more awareness of how “going green is not hard to do. It’s about, in many cases, making the little changes that will pay off in the long run.” She added that she and the other students, most of whom come from urban communities, were struck by the community spirit they witnessed in the rebuilding of Greensburg.
“What I personally will take back is an appreciation for rural communities like this and the degree to which these people, after coming out of their basements that night and seeing the destruction, actually had the foresight to imagine a town like this,” Parsons said. “I think that’s really an incredible accomplishment and something that we can look to as a model for other communities in the future.”
