By Joce DeWitt
Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce you to the Student Sustainability Initiative (SSI) where maintaining OSU as a model of environment-friendly activities and services. Their mission? Well, essentially, it is to continue OSU’s “green” mission of promoting sustainability.
The Daily Barometer has run article on new things going on regarding sustainability at OSU last term, and what can be discovered after reading those articles is that these program seemingly never sleep. Read here:
Here are a few things you need to know about the Student Sustainability Initiative
*It is run by students
*It is funded by student fees (their budget is overseen by the Student Incidental Fee Committee)
*It is meant to represent and advance student interest in sustainability (which was first expressed strongly in 2003 when students accepted an additional $1.85 to their tuition costs to promote recycling and waste reduction)
*They base their mission on three elements: participation, empowerment and change
*It has a campus location at the Student Sustainability Center, open every weekday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The SSI has been up to a lot of things, like putting on events for the student body as a whole, to raise awareness (often in a fun way) about what they can do to maintain OSU’s sustainability culture. These campus events include clothing swaps, Ban the Bag campaign, in which students are working toward banning single-use plastic bags, the Sustainable Film Festival and the Building Energy Challenge, which tenants of campus building compete in waste reduction and efficient energy use.
Recently, OSU joined several other universities in a campaign worth $1 billion called the “Green Challenge” through which they hope to earn funding to finance energy efficiency upgrades. Read the press release here: http://oregonstate.edu/sustainability/osu-joins-multi-university-launch-1-billion-“green-challenge”
