Hi, nice to meet you. We are Environmental Alliance.
We have enjoyed writing columns this past semester and discussing everything and anything from recycling to wind power to collective action. For our last column of the semester, we, the current co-presidents of Environmental Alliance, want to tell you a little more about what we do, reflect on the past year and share our thoughts on sustainability culture.
There are so many different student groups and so many different ways that you can spend your out-of-class time. There are art groups, community service groups, cultural groups, academic groups... the list goes on. But what does it mean to be a sustainability group on campus? That is a question that we, as Environmental Alliance, continue to explore today.
In the fall, we hosted a Duke People’s Climate March for the people who could not make it up to New York. We had students and faculty members speak to inspire, and we chanted “What do we want? Climate justice!” The most important thing at a rally is that there are actually people there to rally. As with many events, there was great fear in the minutes before the rally—What if no one shows up? Where is everyone? We strategically placed our event at the West Campus bus stop, not only because it’s extremely visible, but also because we were guaranteed at least ten people waiting for the bus who we could assimilate into our rally. Thankfully, people did come. Speaking with some of the students who attended, there was a particular quote that stuck out: “I thought about not coming because there would definitely be other people who would go but then I thought, ‘no, everyone is going to think that and then no one will be there.’”
Duke students are busy! There’s no question about it. We always sign ourselves up to go to events but then realize there is homework to be done or sleep to be recovered. One of our main struggles as a student organization is designing events that people will attend while also contributing to our greater purpose as an environmental service group—spreading the sustainability love around campus.
We did another campaign fall semester called Choose to Reuse where we asked people to pledge to drink from reusable water bottles instead of disposable ones. In exchange for their pledge, they received a free Bobble water bottle. This event was made possible by Seventh Generation’s donation of 600 Bobbles and their mistake of double shipping us another 600 Bobbles. Unlike most events, we weren’t worried that people wouldn’t come—everyone loves free stuff—but we were worried that people wouldn’t get our message. We made posters explaining the lifecycle of a water bottle and took photos of people to remind them that they made a pledge. But how many people actually took their pledge to heart?
Some of our events have brought professors and students together to engage in conversation and others have caused passerbys to take a second glance at our table in the Bryan Center. Other events leave people walking away with free water bottles and full tummies but do individuals truly process the messages behind the compostable utensils we used or the vegetarian options provided? Or was our event just another free meal on campus or a recycling event with washed over messages that have been repeated since grade school?
We’d like to hope that’s not the case. But how do we know?
Overall, campus administration has created a culture that promotes sustainability with initiatives such as the Free Store, Campus Sustainability Fellows and an entire Sustainability Department. While there are institutional barriers to implementing certain sustainability programs, Duke clearly places sustainability high on its agenda. The problem thereafter lies with connections between the efforts of the administration and students, between economic viability and environmental sustainability and between the perfect sustainable lifestyle and a practical routine for the average undergraduate student. Our goal and largest struggle as Environmental Alliance is to rebrand sustainability from an unrealistic ideal to a mindset easily incorporated by everyone instead of only those we deem to be campus tree huggers.
On a more personal level, we have both been involved with Environmental Alliance since our freshman year and have watched the group change and take on various roles on campus. As presidents, sometimes our job is filling out funding forms and responding to e-mails, but other times our role is creating community and conversation whether through an organized panel discussion or simply over a cup of Red Mango or, more realistically, Red Mango samples). We find the latter to be the more rewarding of the two.
So, in the end, who is Environmental Alliance?
We are activists, urging our peers to speak up and stand up for what they feel is right. We are educators, communicating environmental facts and figures to the general public. Most of all, we are a group of like-minded individuals who, for one reason or another, seek to explore and understand the natural world and roles of humans on this mysterious planet.
Kelly Shen and Danielle Su are Trinity juniors. This column is the last installment in a semester-long series of biweekly columns written by members of Environmental Alliance.
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