Students Making a Difference at a Community College: One Year After our First AASHE Conference

1. Students Making a Difference at a Community College: One Year After our First AASHE Conference

2. AASHE 2011 • Last year we attended the AASHE 2011. • Each of us was inspired by the experience. • Today we are here to tell you our story. • Liam – Personal Experience and our Green Fund. • Lara -- Local Food Movement and Scraps Composting. • Sarah -- Struggles and Successes.

3. Sustainability: What changed our lives.

4. Looking at the World • As a college student, the world is ever changing. • Ideas come and go, but some cling to you. • Everyideahas potential to changethe world.

5. October 8, 2011 • The first day of AASHE 2011. • This was the first time I had ever heard the word sustainability. • Sustainability: The capacity to endure.With the responsibility to maintain our resources,in order to provide for the future.

6. What an Idea! • Sustainable thought. • Reduced waste. • Care for environment. • Conscience for others. • I began to see the truth.

7. Changing CLC • So exciting. • Spreading the news.

8. Our Campus Green Fund

9. Green Fund • To do big things, you need a big budget. • Our Student Government has a large budget. • Wrote a proposal. • It passed! • More Sustainable Projects on Campus.

10. What type of projects? • Projects that include or relate to sustainability. • Composters. • Energy Star: LED Light-bulbs. • Watersense: Low flow fixtures. • Projects that promote sustainable thinking.

11. Who decides? • The Green Fund Committee will be in charge of deciding which applications will be chosen. • Comprised of 8 members. • 6 students. • 2 faculty.

12. How to apply? • Obtain a Green Fund Project Application. • The application will ask for… • Goals. • Cost. • Who will be impacted. • The Green Fund Committee will then review the applications. • Two deadlines. • Fall. • Spring.

13. What if no one Applies? • Who doesn’t want free money? • In case we do not receive any applications, the money rolls over to the next semester.

14. Sustainable Food

15. This Past Year • After last years AASHE conference, I was inspired. • My focus? Food. • Food is connected to family, culture, special events. • Food sustains our bodies and nourishes our souls.

16. Thanksgiving

17. A Party

18. A Summer Celebration

19. Where does YOUR food come from? • Many people truly don’t know. • It’s not the grocery store!

20. Food at your school

21. Food at My College Cafeteria • The food at my campus was pretty disgusting. • Prices were high and quality was low. • Food was coming from a distributor in Michigan. • Our College is in Illinois! • Days or weeks may have elapsed before it was eaten.

22. What if food at your college and in your community could look like this…

25. Spring Cleaning • The Cafeteria Staff noticed the food was not selling. • A change was needed. • Farm To Table. • A dollar menu! • Student run restaurant using local food.

26. Local Food • Our College is changing the menu in the Cafeteria. • There is a Student Run Café opening in October. • It will be open 2 days a week. • Some of the produce is very local! • Our community garden. • We would like to use more local farmers. • Lowering our carbon footprint. • Lowering transportation costs.

27. Progress • We now have a staff member dedicated to local food! • We have purchased two large hoop houses to lengthen the growing season of our local food. • Taking advantage of the Green Fund • Student workers could be hired. • Fruit orchards are being discussed.

28. We Did Not Accomplish This Alone • Look around your school. • Find out what others are doing. • They may have similar ideas or goals. • There may be projects already started. • Partner up with other departments.

29. Food Scrap Composting

30. Last year a light bulb went off for me!!!! • The college is a microcosm of our larger community. • If the college can reduce food waste by composting…we would be part of the solution!

31. After you eat it. • What happens to the scraps of food and vegetable left on your plate?

32. Currently the college throws away approximately 27 tons of food waste annually.

33. This is where it goes…

34. This is where it could go…

35. Composting • CLC composts garden waste. • This year we are expanding our compost bins. • They will soon be accepting food scraps. • Could then save money on growing crops for the following year.

36. What’s Next? • Student café with more than 20% local food. • Compost used as mulch. • Composters that accepts all food waste (animal, vegetable). • What else can YOU think of?

37. Struggles and Successes

38. Took Away From 2011 • People everywhere are fighting for change. • I enjoyed hearing the stories of other students challenges. • I will share a few of our struggles and successes.

39. Struggles and SuccessesCommunity College • We have a high turn over of students. • We do not have anyone who lives on campus. • Passionate Students = Busy Students.

40. Struggles and Successes High Turn Over Rate • Students are only around for a short amount of time. • Constantly changing students and members. • Education sessions. • Recruitment Strategies: • Make things fun. • Make sure new members always feel welcome. • Promote during busiest hours on campus. • Computersare much easier to collect e-mail addresses on. • Give opportunities to help.

41. How to Advertise to People Who Only Spend Some Of Their Time On Campus • Flyers. • Facebook. • Announce meetings and events in classes. • We rely on paper communication. • Hope to be paperless, or nearly paperless soon. Struggles and Successes Living Off Campus

42. Struggles and Successes Living Off Campus How Much More Time Can You Expect Students to Spend On Campus Outside of Class • Each student has a different amount of free time. • Strategically plan event times. • Around Members. • When campus is busiest. • We are constantly in need of more members to lessen the load on each person.

43. Struggles and Successes Active Participants are Active Students • Driven Students = Busy Schedules • Students are likely to overwhelm themselves. • Make sure you are respectful to all of your members. • Do everything you can, without killing your members or yourself. • There have to be concessions. • Events can be postponed. • Made a little smaller.

44. Our Next Steps Inspiring the Next Generation • Each of us will eventually leave our colleges. • First person in a long line of environmental fighters. • Leave members with a list of what has • Worked. • Hasn’t worked, • Started. • Hoped to do. • Each of us is working to create a legacy. • A legacy is something that never dies.

45. Leave your mark wherever you can, and someone will notice, and many people will benefit from it.

46. “Unless Someone Like You Cares a Whole Awful Lot, Nothing is Going to Get Better. It’s Not.”-- Dr. Seuss

47. Our Contact Information • Sarah Gocek – Sarahdancer753@aol.com • Liam Morrison – liammorrison11@stu.clcillinois.edu • LaraSviatko–lsviatko@me.com • College of Lake County’s “Go Green” Webpage –http://www.clcillinois.edu/gogreen/ --helpful tips and sustainability updates.