Student passion inspires new club
The Sustainability Club wants to turn green talk into action.
Sophomore Emily Roberson recently co-founded the Sustainability Club with junior Morgan Appley during a sustainability internship.
The internship, along with Roberson’s own passion for sustainability, led to her interest in forming the club. Appley had similar motivations.
“For me sustainability has been a passion for a long time,” Appley said.
After spending four years in the community, Appley decided to start pursuing sustainability on campus through the formation of the organization.
“As far as goals, our campus has a long way to go,” Appley said. “We want to put sustainability on the map at USD, green the campus a little bit.”
At its second meeting Tuesday night, the club met to elect officers, discuss the definition of sustainability and set goals.
Appley and Roberson were elected co-presidents for the club. Megan Feller, Mariah Gehle and Carly Holmstrom were elected as the club’s secretary, treasurer and communications officer.
“I joined this club because I hope it can impact change,” Holmstrom said.
Holmstrom, a sophomore and sustainability major, said she chose the major, and the club, in order to make her cause her career. As the communications officer, she said her goal is to communicate about events, along with facts the club presents at meetings.
“If we make change, my goal is to let people know,” Holmstrom said.
The group is not yet recognized by the Student Government Association, but the club voted for a constitution Tuesday.
“Most colleges and universities have some kind of sustainability or environmental club,” Roberson said.
The club discussed goals for the group, along with projects. The club named starting a recycling program on campus as a priority. The first project the club will undertake is distributing flyers with facts about sustainability that are printed on recycled paper. It hopes to highlight sustainability success stories and promote sustainable actions of the university.
Goals discussed at the meeting included creating a tagline for the club, building a community among the club and convincing local businesses to cut back on plastic bag usage.
The club will select a theme for each month.
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Topics for the rest of the semester included discussing sustainable food options for Thanksgiving and how to have green holidays, from decorations to gifts.
“There’s a lot of things on campus that could be changed,” Roberson said. “I’d like to see us actually cause change on campus.”
Appley said she hopes the club can address issues such as recycling, energy usage and where products are purchased, along with spreading awareness into the community.
“The existence of the major keeps people involved and interested,” Appley said.
The club’s goal is to educate the community about sustainability and to complete sustainability projects. Tuesday’s meeting was attended by nine members, including students and faculty.
The club is considering working with the “After School Adventures” program, a youth program in Vermillion, to do projects, such as show youth how much trash is created in a day.
The club plans on showing documentaries and teaching organization members about sustainability at future meetings.
Near the beginning of the meeting, the club met in small groups to discuss the definition of sustainability to create an “elevator speech,” a short description of sustainability that can be explained in the time it takes for an elevator to travel between floors. Explanations offered included: replenishing resources, appreciating the community and maintaining environmental, economical and social systems over time with a futuristic outlook.
The Sustainability Club meets upstairs in the Muenster University Center every two weeks on Tuesdays at 5 p.m.
