Environmental Club Plans Campus Events to Conserve Energy and Reduce Waste

By: Stephanie Turaj
Posted In: News

Last year the Environmental Club brought recycling bins to campus. This year they are focusing on getting wasteful plastic bottles off campus. These dedicated students trek to local beaches to clean up garbage, turn off lights in campus buildings and raise money for local causes.

The Environmental Club is truly dedicated to helping the environment and hosts many events to promote this cause. The club meets Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. in the General Biology Labs, O’Hare 148. While meetings usually about 10-15 minutes long, a lot of planning for various events takes place during these meetings.

One upcoming event is “World Water Day” on March 22 in the O’Hare Lobby. The club has purchased reusable water bottles that filter the water, and will be handing out the water bottles in O’Hare. This year, the club’s main focus is on water conservation. Club president Lisa Zabel, a senior, originally became very involved with the club last year after the screening of the film “FLOW: For Love of Water,” so it makes sense that her main goal for this year is to get wasteful plastic bottles off campus. The club has already installed several filtered water bottle fountains in campus buildings including Wakehurst. These fountains will make filling up water bottles easier-so the more wasteful throwaway bottles can be pushed off campus. The club will be petitioning against Pepsi to get the Aquafina bottles out of vending machines. The goal for the end of the year is to get the reusable water bottles to be sold in Miley Mart and Jazzman’s.

The Environmental Club will also host “Earth Hour” on Saturday, March 26 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The lights in Wakehurst will turn off during this time, and students will hang out, read poetry and play music. The point of the event is to “show students how energy is being used by turning off the lights,” said Zabel. She is hoping this event will both encourage students and Salve facilities to switch off unnecessary lights in the future. Salve professor Dr. Craig Condella will speak at the event, as he has in past years. This is the third year of the event, but in past years the event has been smaller. The Environmental Club is hoping to get more student involvement this time around.

“Earth Hour is this worldwide event,” said club member Jennifer Sliney, a junior. “At Salve and we want to bring it here, because Salve uses a lot of electricity, and make the event a reason for people to come. We’re trying to make it fun and make it cool.”

The club also screens many films throughout the year to promote awareness about the environment. The next film is a screening of “HOME” on March 25. This film depicts an aerial view of the earth and shows how the earth has changed over time and how humans have impacted the earth. “They’re trying to be really good at spread awareness,” said Sliney.

As if this array of events isn’t enough, the Environmental Club also attends beach clean-ups run by Clean Ocean Access. Gloves and bags are provided by Clean Ocean access. “Yes, you’re cleaning up trash, but you make it fun,” said Zabel.

To add to the fun, the club will host its annual “Go Green Dance” on April 15 as part of the Friday Night Live Series. To coincide with this year’s “water” theme, students will wear the color blue to the event. WSRU will DJ the event, and tickets will cost $3. All money raised from the dance will benefit a local environmental cause.

On April 27, the club will host “Earth Day,” the club’s biggest event of the year. There will be tables outside of O’Hare with vendors and information on conservation and the environment. There will even be a dumpster dive, which means students will jump into a dumpster and pick through the trash to find what could have been recycled but wasn’t. The Environmental Club hopes to get other clubs involved with this event as well.

Sliney joined Environmental Club because of her interest in the environment and her Environmental Studies minor. “I like Environmental Club because it makes it so as students we actually have the power to accomplish something,” Sliney said.

Environmental Club was founded in 2006 by student Melissa Fromm, so the club is relatively new. However, interest in the club grows every year. Many of the events held by the club are held year after year, and each year attendance and popularity increases. Zabel said the club advertises mainly via Facebook and word of mouth, and tries to avoid hanging up wasteful posters.

Other E-Board members of the Environmental Club include Vice President Gabrielle Corradino, treasurer Elyse Judge and Angela Schneider on public relations.

For more information on the club contact lisa.zabel@salve.edu