Since it’s St. Patrick’s Day, students will not only be wearing green to celebrate the holiday, but also pledging to “go green.”

“We’re trying to take the greenness of St. Patrick’s Day to kick off the campaign,” said Sheela Bhongir, A.S. environmental affairs director. “The goal is to make people more conscious of the decisions they make because every choice has some sort of environmental impact.”

The Go Green Campaign will be hosted by A.S. Environmental Affairs Committee and will be from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in front of the bookstore lawn.

Bhongir said, students will have the opportunity to participate in up to 11 online pledges. After they are done with the pledge, students will be given a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a pencil made out of recycled currency with the words “Go Green CSUN.”

“The idea is to really encourage CSUN students to go green,” Bhongir said. “Even though people think individual actions may not count for a lot, in the long run it really does. If everyone makes a small change in (their) behavior it can make a major difference.”

We’re trying to spread the motto of “think globally act locally” as well, Bhongir said.

Bhongir said the pledges are simple and fast activities one can do to go green. Such as “taking a bag to a grocery store, visiting a farmers market, eating a healthy vegetarian meal once a week, or taking public transportation.”

“We’re going to have two tents, one with a whole bunch of laptops for students to click online and take a pledge, and on the other we will be making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and giving them out,” Bhongir said.

As part of the campaign, A.S. Environmental Affairs Committee has teamed up with the PB & J campaign, a non-profit company, to try to increase plant based diet foods, and will be wearing T-shirts to help promote them.

“They’re trying to spread the word that eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches helps increase plant based diets and are more eco friendly than meat based diets,” Bhongir said. “Eating peanut butter and jelly has a lot of protein as well as your necessary carbs.

According to Bhongir, the Go Green Campaign has been in preparation for about three weeks.

“Getting all the different elements and the brainstorming stage took about a week and the next couple of weeks were getting things together,” Bhongir said. “We got donations from Vons and Fresh and Easy, the owner is a CSUN (alumnus), so they were happy to donate peanut butter and jelly for us. We’re getting the bread donated from a local grocery store.”

Ross Myrick, 20, biology major, plans on taking multiple pledges.

“I already do what I can to be green, so taking pledges will only motivate me to do more,” Myrick said. “It’s important to take baby steps in helping our environment. The more one person does it, the more likely that someone close to them will follow in their footsteps. That’s how change happens.”

Students who are unable to participate in the campaign kickoff can still take the pledge on the A.S. Web site until Earth Day, April 22.

Bhongir said if people want to get involved with the committee they are more than welcome to.

“We’re always looking to make it grow and increase our membership base,” Bhongir said.

Cindy Signett, recycling coordinator encourages students to take the pledge to go green.

“It’s a wonderful green day to kick off the Go Green CSUN Campaign,” Signett said. “I hope everybody comes out, it’s really easy to do, go green!”