Sustainability group sets sights on leaving lasting impact

It’s for the University of South Dakota and for the community of Vermillion. It’s a voice of advocacy to promote a more sustainable Earth, but at the end of the day, it’s for a better tomorrow.

As the weeklong “earth (every) day” campaign event heads into the second half of activities, the Sustainable Vermillion committee is hoping the more than 15 events held throughout the week in celebration of Earth Day — April 22 — will lead to a more sustainable lifestyle in the area.

[notification type=”grey” title=”Who makes up the Sustainable Vermillion committee?”]University of South Dakota Sustainability Club members University of South Dakota Sustainability program members Vermillion community members[/notification]

Maggie Pettersen, a member of the Sustainable Vermillion committee, said the amount of planning that has gone into this week’s activities is an indicator the community is ready to move forward with a sustainable mindset.

“I feel very positive about the future of sustainability in Vermillion, and I don’t think it’s going to be hard to continue it,” Pettersen said. “I think there are people just waiting to be asked (to help promote sustainability).”

Pettersen is the coordinator of the Downtown Sustainability Fair, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 24 at the Ratingen Platz from 5-7 p.m. The event will feature various exhibits themed around sustainability, with vendors such as Missouri Valley Recycling and Landfill, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Red Earth Cooperative in attendance.

Other scheduled activities include face painting, a rainfall simulator demonstrating what healthy soil looks like and food served by Red Steakhouse Cafe Brule.

The first of its kind in terms of longevity, the “earth (every) day” campaign in Vermillion has been in the works for several months. Meghann Jarchow, adviser of the Sustainability Club and head of the Sustainability department, first organized a meeting in January to discuss the possibility hosting a series of events during the week of Earth day because of the Frances Moore Lappe speaker visit her department was planning.

Lappe, an internationally-renowned sustainability activist, delivered a lecture at USD April 22 in the Muenster University Center ballroom. She emphasized that society is locked in a mental map based on separateness, stasus and scarcity. This failing framework, she said, leads to a “spiral of powerlessness” that perpetuates unsustainable practices.

“What becomes possible is we can begin to develop a vision which can create the three conditions that can bring out the best in us — a living democracy,” she said. “It’s not what we have, but what we do.”

Jarchow said Lappe’s visit to campus served as a way for other event possibilities to take root.

“This was a nice spark to say ‘Hey, let’s provide diverse opportunities during Earth week,'” she said.

Pettersen, who attended the January meeting, said the response to Jarchow’s proposal was great and is evident in the week’s planned events.

“The ideas and commitments just kept pouring out,” Pettersen said.

With events interspersed between Vermillion and USD locations, both Jarchow and Pettersen said “earth (every) day” provides opportunity for the Vermillion community and the USD community to interact with each other — something they said doesn’t happen enough.

“There definitely are differences between the student community and the town,” Pettersen said. “I always thought we needed to bring people together a whole lot more than we do.”

The Sustainability Club has been one of the primary student groups involved in organizing the week’s sustainability events. Emily Roberson, sophomore and co-president of the Sustainability Club, is the coordinator for the “Face Your Waste Campaign” at USD.

Designed to put into perspective how much waste students can accumulate over the course of a week, an area of the Muenster University Center has been designated to collect recyclables.

“We’re really trying to get people to recycle on campus,” Roberson said. “The big thing that we are doing over Earth week is installing a visual piece telling about waste.”

To conclude the week, the Sustainable Vermillion committee has planned an open forum to discuss Vermillion’s future in sustainable and reflect on this year’s “earth (every) day” campaign.

Roberson said one of the ultimate messages she hopes the week’s events convey is that a sustainable lifestyle can be practical.

“We want people to realize taking care of the Earth and being good stewards to the Earth is something we should think about every day, not just one day a year,” she said.

Photo: Community member Barbara Wilson gets her book signed by author and activist Frances Moore Lappe at an Earth Week lecture April 22 in the Muenster University Center ballroom. (Malachi Petersen/The Volante)