The NMU EcoReps student organization hosted Sustainability Week events on campus March 25-29. As indicated by this year's theme, “Beyond Green,” the group expanded its focus beyond the environment to also highlight social and economic sustainability.
Activities kicked off with Meatless Monday at Northern Lights Dining, which offered several vegan and vegetarian options, along with locally sourced meat. EcoReps followed that with a screening of the documentary Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret.
Tuesday included a “Write Your Reps” workshop. Students wrote letters about issues they are passionate about that were later sent to their state and federal representatives.
“On Wednesday, we had a clothing swap and fix-it events,” said EcoReps member Kit Collins. “People could drop off clothes they didn't want or use anymore and pick up clothes they thought they would. We also had two sewing machines out so people could drop off clothing that needed a new button or clothes or bags with rips that we could repair.”
Collins and Casey Haugen were under a gazebo tent on the academic mall Thursday to promote geotrashing. They provided compostable bags, reusable gloves and a counter for people who wanted to collect trash on campus and tally up how many items they retrieved. EcoReps figured out the total number collected and either recycled or threw away the trash at the end of the event.
Sustainability Week ended with “Earth Hour” at the Climbing Co-op.
EcoReps is a student sustainability peer-to-peer education program. It is designed to give students the resources and knowledge to solve environmental, economic and social sustainability issues. Reps function as the student branch of the Sustainability Advisory Council, and work together to organize campus-wide programming, carry out collaborative projects, represent the program at various campus events and encourage responsible behaviors in their peers.