The Sustainability Council is a group of environmentally passionate students who are creating change behind closed doors. There was an air of productivity and excitement in the group’s second meeting of the year, as they discussed the upcoming Thrift-It Thursday events and new pushes they will be making toward promoting sustainability, including within technology and clothes shopping.
Sustainability Council President and senior in environmental science Courtney Moore has been running the council since May 2022, and has been an avid member of the group since her freshman year. Now in her final semester, Moore is making a final push for environmental awareness before retiring from her position as president.
Promoting sustainability to college students with countless important items on their to-do-list may not be an easy task, but the message Moore seeks to spread is a simple one.
“Something you’ll see on all of my flyers is the quote, ‘To being better, not perfect,’ because I think a lot of people approach sustainability and the climate crisis with, ‘Oh, I have to be perfect, be the perfect vegan and change my lifestyle.’ It’s really not about that, we just want you to do one thing better today and tomorrow. I promise you, small changes will add up,” Moore said.
Sustainability Council has multiple notable events planned for the coming months. One of the most significant events will be recurring throughout the semester: Thrift-It Thursdays. Sustainability Council will partner with CMU’s Business Closet, which will be donating all of its extra clothes for Sustainability Council to sell. Extra clothes are typically items that don’t fit the Business Closet’s idea of business attire. The Sustainability Council will be selling all of these donated items for a dollar each.
“This will be happening two times every month until May, just to get our clothes supply under control,” Moore said. “They will be happening at different spots around campus every time, they’re called pop-up thrifts.”
The first couple of Thrift-It Thursdays will be taking place on the first floor of the University Center, beginning on Thursday, Feb. 16. Moore also detailed the Sustainability Council’s long-term plans for the semester, stretching out to April for Earth Week.
“We’re doing Recycle Fest that whole week, and the Friday before Earth Day, we are doing the succulent event. We just give away plants and succulents, and people seemed to love it in the past. We will also partner with KMSA to throw an Earth Day dance.” Moore said. Earth Week will be the week of April 17-22.
Another senior member of the Sustainability Council, Holly Stanley, is also the Community Outreach and Education Coordinator for the Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center–the water center right here at CMU. Stanley voiced her hopes to see more collaboration in the future between the water center and Sustainability Council, pointing out the overlap between many members of both organizations.
“In previous years, we’ve seen some collaboration between the two groups. Dr. Tim Casey, who oversees the Sustainability Council, is also on the water center’s faculty board. He’s got his hand in both organizations,” Stanley said.
Moore points out that a glowing seal of credibility within the Sustainability Council is that the group successfully campaigned to remove all styrofoam from CMU’s campus two years ago. Stanley voiced this same pride.
“I’ve been a member within the Sustainability Council for a few years now, I worked on the campaign a year before last to remove styrofoam from Sodexo, and that was a successful campaign, so that kind of gets you really excited when you do something, and it’s successful,” Stanley said.
Stanley also pointed out that the Ruth Powell Water Center will be starting its 2023 student Summer Water Research Grant application process. These grants will be available to students seeking out water research opportunities, regardless of their major.
“Be conscious and aware of your surroundings, and try to put good energy out there, into our environment, because it’s the only one that we have,” Stanley said.
Keep an eye out for Sustainability Council’s flyers and events around campus this semester, as they push for change and promote sustainability within our campus.
