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SHERMAN, TEXAS--The winds are kicking up, the rain is falling, and the trees are budding. Spring is arriving, and most everyone is thinking green. At Austin College, thinking green is a call to action.
Saturday, the College will host its fourth annual GreenServe, co-sponsored by Thinking Green and the Austin College Service Station. Students and faculty will head out to several locations on campus and in the community to volunteer for projects that focus mainly on environmental responsibility and sustainability. Thinking Green leaders Sophie Higgs, a sophomore from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Rachel Sims, a senior economics and environmental studies major from Dallas, Texas, have led the organization of the campus-wide project.
“This event is a great way for students to combine their passion for serving with their overall awareness of the environment,” said Dr. Brad Smucker, associate professor of chemistry and director of Thinking Green Campus Awareness.
Smucker said GreenServe is part of an overall “Green Week,” and that a great number of campus organizations and individuals are taking part. “Not only is it a great way for students to serve their community but it is quite an educational opportunity for the students,” he said.
“Green Week” featured “Tray-less Tuesday,” when students got their meals on campus without trays to save water consumption and to help reduce food waste. On “Water-wise Wednesday,” students were tested on their environmental know-how and competed to win reusable water bottles. Their recycling knowledge was tested on “Think Thursday” with trivia that netted winners gift certificates from Green Market. Fresh Friday features an actual farmer’s market set up outside the Austin College dining hall in Wright Campus Center, allowing students a “fresh perspective” on locally grown food.
Saturday, GreenServe kicks off in the morning with dozens of students traveling to Eisenhower State Park on the shores of Lake Texoma to take part in repair, maintenance, and improvement of up to five miles of hiking and biking trails.
On campus, students will coordinate a letter-writing campaign regarding environmental and sustainability issues to government representatives. In the Luckett Parking Lot, students will gather to begin a xeriscaping program for campus, which refer to landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental water from irrigation. Students also will pick up trash east of the campus as well as at Herman Baker Park.
Students also will undertake projects at Sneed Environmental Research Lab with the Prairie Restoration project and at Buckner Biology Field Lab with a prescribed prairie burn. They also will take on clean-up and prep work at the Sherman Community Garden. Other students will assist at the Texoma Earth Day Festival at the Sherman Municipal Building grounds.
GreenServe culminates with the Austin College Earthfest, a student celebration of the environment sponsored by the Austin College Environmentally Concerned Organization of Students (ECOS).
Austin College’s Thinking Green campaign is described as an initiative to integrate the challenges of sustainable living into the life and culture of the campus and is a natural outgrowth of the College’s commitment to teaching, serving, and modeling engagement with the world.
Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original charter and name, the college is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives.
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