Last spring, students enrolled in Dr. Xiangrong Liu’s Service Operations Management course at ɫ����Ƶ collaborated with German students studying at Heilbronn University of Applied Science to discuss sustainability practices and solutions.  

Over six weeks, ɫ����Ƶ students met virtually with Heilbronn’s Professor Dr.-Ing. Annett Grossmann and her students to compare the similarities and differences between each school’s dining services, specifically how sustainability practices are incorporated into dining hall operations.  

“It was really beneficial to see how places around the world do things differently and what their sustainability practices are,” said Isabelle Darcy, ’25, one of the ɫ����Ƶ students in Dr. Liu’s class.  

One thing that struck Darcy was that at Heilbronn, the lights are turned off during the day in all the dining halls to save energy.  

“They rely on the skylights and natural light during day hours which I thought was cool,” she said. “If we were to add skylights in our dining halls, that’s one way we could make a positive change.”  

Students also examined the materials used for dinnerware, the food output, different types of packaging used, and the types of food on the menu.  

ɫ����Ƶ students learned that in Germany no plastic is used. Instead, all plates and silverware are made of material that can be washed and used again.  

The German menu is more geared toward vegetables than what diners typically find in the United States. In some studies, a vegetarian menu has been shown to slow climate change and its effects on the environment, just as raising livestock creates greenhouse gases.  

“They definitely had a lot of sustainability practices in place which allowed us to think of what practices can be implemented here to improve our dining halls,” Darcy said.  

This September, some of the German students were able to travel with Dr. Grossman to ɫ����Ƶ and see first-hand some of the things discussed during their online meetings.  

During a tour of the East Campus Commons dining facility Kosta Gouziotis was quick to notice a major difference in how food is distributed at Bridgewater compared to back home in Germany.  

“Here, you pay a certain amount and it’s all-you-can-eat. What you don’t eat, you throw out. But in Germany we pay by gram. So, if we don’t eat it, we essentially are wasting not just food, but our own money,” he said. “It’s an incentive to not get too much food.” 

The tour also offered Staci DeSimone, general manager Bridgewater dining services, the opportunity to share some of the ways ɫ����Ƶ’s dining facilities are implementing sustainability practices, including the addition of waste stations to recycle paper, cardboard, bottles and cans.  

“We are also trying to improve, not just our food services, but how we can make a better tomorrow,” Desimone said.   

Having the German students on campus was exciting and enriched the collaboration experience, Liu said.  

“Working with faculty and students from another country really helps us understand other cultures and the ability to find sustainable solutions together,” she said.  

The collaboration with the two schools was made possible through a Collaborative University Business Experiences (CUBEs) and Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) in Teaching grant.  

“I think giving our students these types of collaborations not only opens up larger discussions but also helps prepare our students with transferable and employable skills and better prepare students for global careers,” Liu said.  

Do you have a ɫ����Ƶ story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu

I think giving our students these types of collaborations not only opens up larger discussions but also helps prepare our students with transferable and employable skills and better prepare students for global careers.

When looking to gather paint supplies, a group of students at ɫ����Ƶ don’t head to the local craft store, instead they make their way to the school’s permaculture garden.   

This past spring, students taking Sustainable Art and Science Laboratory, an immersive course taught by Professors Ivana George and Alyssa Deline, planted seeds to produce dye-producing plants that will be used this fall.  

The course is the brainchild of George and Deline, who teamed up last year to offer a class that combines both art and science.   

“Alyssa and I both serve on the sustainability advisory board and wanted to create new courses on sustainability. We connected and together came up with a syllabus,” George said.   

Students in the class are asked to conduct scientific research into environmentally sustainable art materials. Students also learn about professional artists who are currently using sustainable materials in their work.   

Using sustainable materials that they’ve either researched or made in the lab, students will then create art to be showcased at ɫ����Ƶ’s annual Student Arts and Research Symposium.   

Deline anticipated that the class would appeal to students studying art or science but was pleasantly surprised to see students from all disciplines across campus.   

“We had students from the humanities, political science, psychology...most students were initially excited about the art aspect of it, but nervous about the process of producing art in the lab, the science-related aspect. Their excitement and apprehension were evident,” Deline said.    

Eventually that nervousness waned, and students gained confidence as the semester progressed.  

“I got to learn about things a lot of students don’t normally get to learn,” said Kim Salla, ’25, a marketing major. “Learning how to create paint with natural materials, then getting to use the paint we created to make projects and then getting to garden in the spring so students in the fall can harvest...I got to enjoy so many new things that I have never been introduce to.”  

 Xander Barney, ’25, signed up for the class because he was interested in the environmental aspect.   

“I’m an Eagle Scout, so I knew I’d enjoy it,” he said. “I learned a lot about making dyes and pigments, from things like flowers, walnuts, onions and even beetles; something I would never have thought to do on my own. It expanded my learning and understanding of the amount of natural materials that are present and easily available,” he said.   

For George, the goal of the course is to bring about awareness.   

“I want students to be aware of what kind of toxins they are exposing themselves to, and toxins they might be exposing others to,” she said. “They need to be conscious of what they are creating as scientists and artists, and make sure they are being mindful in terms of their impact.”  

Deline hopes students walk away from the class with a greater appreciation of how art and science co-exist.   

“When working with sustainable materials, it really is a joyful process,” she said. “You’re expressing yourself and answering questions. Art and science both have different ways when it comes to exploration, but in both you have to be willing to take risks and make mistakes in order to succeed as either an artist or a scientist.”  

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When working with sustainable materials, it really is a joyful process. You’re expressing yourself and answering questions. Art and science both have different ways when it comes to exploration, but in both you have to be willing to take risks and make mistakes in order to succeed as either an artist or a scientist.

When he was younger, Samuel Bechtold, ’24, would often walk Cape Cod beaches picking up trash. Sometimes he’d find cell phone chargers and electronic vaping devices – items that represent the tip of the iceberg in the growing environmental problem of electronic waste.

Now majoring in photonics and optical engineering at ɫ����Ƶ, Bechtold is a research assistant on a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ɫ����Ƶ seeking solutions.

“I’ve always thought about sustainability,” said Bechtold, a former chairperson of the Sierra Club’s Cape Cod chapter. “It’s nice to have a professional outlet here where I can also focus on that.”

The team, which is led by MIT and includes ɫ����Ƶ Assistant Professor Samuel Serna as a co-principal investigator, is researching sustainable microchip manufacturing with funding from the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator program. The initiative puts interdisciplinary teams from across the country into a friendly competition to develop solutions to pressing societal problems.

As consumers seek the latest features in their electronic devices, they often throw away old models, contributing to the approximately 50 million (and growing) tons of e-waste generated in the world every year. That annual figure, according to a 2019 United Nations report, is greater than the combined weight of every commercial airplane ever built - and only 20 percent of the e-waste is recycled.

The MIT-ɫ����Ƶ team is working with industry and government stakeholders to find ways to increase energy efficiency and reduce e-waste. Photonics, which uses particles of light called photons to improve technology, can help lower a device’s energy use. The group also aims to explore methods for swapping out chips instead of throwing away an entire phone or computer.

“We want to train engineers to design for upgrades having in mind that it’s not a one-use device,” Dr. Serna said.

Education is an important component of the project. Serna introduces the issue to high school students who visit ɫ����Ƶ. And he will teach a first-year seminar about sustainable microchip manufacturing in the fall. He hopes the course underscores the importance of incorporating sustainability in product design and manufacturing.

“We want to start that at the very beginning so as sophomores, juniors and seniors they have that already engrained,” Serna said.

In addition to completing administrative functions for the project, Bechtold helps MIT students use photonics lab equipment at ɫ����Ƶ to test their devices. He’s also gaining a new perspective on engineering that incorporates his longstanding passion for environmentalism.

“It helps me to have a more holistic approach when I’m designing stuff,” he said. “I’ll look at the materials used in my design and see if I can find alternatives that are more sustainable and have more equitable manufacturing processes.”

Do you have a ɫ����Ƶ story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu.

I’ve always thought about sustainability. It’s nice to have a professional outlet here where I can also focus on that.

Students use food waste to develop composting system for campus’ permaculture garden

As he watched the dishes with discarded food make their way along the conveyor belt, ɫ����Ƶ junior Will Halben was intrigued.

“I wondered where the food went,” said Halben, who is majoring in marketing with a minor in sustainability. “It was a lot of food waste.”

After talking with Sodexo, ɫ����Ƶ’s dining service, he learned it ended up in dumpsters outside the dining halls.

With Sodexo’s permission, Halben brought bags to the dumpsters and filled them with food scraps which he then repurposed into compost for his personal garden.

“I realized how much abundance there was and that I could use it somewhere else,” he said. “If I didn’t do this, that food ends up in a landfill and contributes to methane emissions and can’t properly break down.”

Inspired to do more, Halben teamed up with Matt Potvin, ’23, to further the composting cause.

Potvin, a biology major, is involved with ɫ����Ƶ’s permaculture garden, which is located near the Miles and DiNardo residence halls, and together with Halben came up with a plan to install a closed composting system to benefit the garden using the discarded food.

“The system is used to re-fertilize the soil,” Potvin said. “The compositing system already has microorganisms in the soil, as we add compost these will breakdown and distribute. We won’t need to add anything from an outside source.”

The project is supported through the ɫ����Ƶ Sustainability Program.

“Matt and Will are largely in charge of this compositing initiative, my role is to supply materials and communicate with Sodexo,” said geography Professor and Sustainability Program Co-Coordinator Robert Hellstrom. “The goal is to create a compost learning space on campus that’s visible.”

Educating the campus community is probably the most important part of the project, Halben said.

“We are trying to design and show how inexpensive it can be to compost, how it helps the environment,” he said.

There soon will be a sign with a QR code near the garden, that will explain how others can get involved.

“The intention is to spread awareness of more sustainable living to students on campus so they can better help themselves, the environment and put into action sustainable practices such as composting,” Potvin said.

Do you have a ɫ����Ƶ story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu 

The intention is to spread awareness of more sustainable living to students on campus so they can better help themselves, the environment and put into action sustainable practices such as composting.

Many theatrical performances are known for their lavish sets and costumes that often end up in the trash when a show closes. But ɫ����Ƶ thespians are taking an environmentally friendly approach.

For Lighting the Way, an upcoming series of short plays about climate change, students are using limited sets and costumes – and making them from existing materials. Even the paint is left over from past productions while props are made of waste cardboard. And the program is just one page with a digital supplement.

“We’re in an artistic practice that has historically not been kind to the Earth,” said Kyle Imbeau, ’23, a theatre arts major and women and gender studies minor from Fairhaven. “This is an important thing for us to be reflecting on as artists.”

From Nov. 17 to 20, Kyle and their classmates in Associate Professor Miranda Giurleo’s Laboratory Theatre class will present in the Rondileau Student Union Auditorium. The students selected 16 plays from an anthology of 49 pieces commissioned for the global theater festival Climate Change Theatre Action 2019. The plays highlight people who are striving for a more sustainable future.

“We had a lot of conversations in class about how we do this in a way that leaves the audience with hope,” Giurleo said. “How do we do this in a way that doesn’t seem to be just for optics?”

The minimalist set challenges students to think differently, but also presents an opportunity to connect with audience members who will be more focused on the actors, said Kaylin DiAntonio, ’24, a theater arts and psychology major from Carver.

“Everything that we do is done with intent,” Kaylin said. “Everything we do has such profound purpose that you can’t help but be drawn in.”

Some plays feature spoken word poetry, a style that connects ZZ McRae’s academic studies in theater and creative writing.

“This course has been able to really mesh both of my passions together, and I’m so happy,” said ZZ, a member of the Class of 2023 from Brockton.

Laboratory Theatre gives students a hands-on experience on stage and behind the scenes similar to the work of a professional theater company. 

Lighting the Way marks the seventh show at ɫ����Ƶ for which Kyle is the dramaturg, a position responsible for conducting research and providing context about the play for actors and the audience. Kyle appreciates having these experiences as an undergraduate because they aims to become a professional dramaturg.

Kyle took on the dramaturg responsibilities to fulfill an Honors Program requirement. Fellow honors student Madison Bradbury, ’23, composed several songs for the production.

“I’ve always enjoyed writing music,” said Madison, a theater arts major from East Bridgewater. “I’ve never had proper mentorship and space to do it. Here, I was given all the mentorship.”

Madison hopes the audience leaves inspired to make a difference in improving the environment.

“Even the smallest thing can help,” Madison said. “I hope this starts a chain reaction.”

Do you have a ɫ����Ƶ story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu.

We’re in an artistic practice that has historically not been kind to the Earth. This is an important thing for us to be reflecting on as artists.

Sustainability is often thought of as a science-based practice, which is why the ɫ����Ƶ Sustainability Program has launched a new grant for undergraduate research that encourages students from all disciplines to get involved.

“Our main goal with this grant is to further increase collaboration, that way we can have a greater impact on our community,” said associate professor of management and sustainability program Coordinator Xiangrong Liu.

The Interdisciplinary Sustainability Research Grant supports undergraduate research on sustainability through collaboration among an interdisciplinary team consisting of students and faculty that takes place over the spring or summer. Students are invited to develop their own ideas and find solutions to different challenges presented by faculty mentors.

This past summer, California Muratore, ’24, who is majoring in cultural anthropology with a minor in sustainability, worked with anthropology Professor Navid Fozi and geography Professors James Hayes-Bohanan and Boah Kim on a project titled, “The Implications and Impression of Recycling in Massachusetts; How Local History and Observation can Increase Suitability.”

The Taunton native said she’s always wanted to better understand recycling practices, particularly because of a landfill that sits in the middle of her hometown.

“I’ve always been interested in helping my local area...you can’t think globally unless you understand locally,” California said.

As part of the research project, the group performed both interpersonal interviews and archival research.

“We looked at waste management within Massachusetts to learn what we are doing wrong and what we can do in order to make improvements,” she said.

Through the project, some interesting solutions were uncovered, such as a possible increase in the amount of money one receives when depositing bottles and cans, thus encouraging more people to bring back their empty recyclables.

The group also learned that companies like Trex use recycled materials to create composite decking, railings, and other outdoor items. The company has bins located in area grocery stores where shoppers can bring recyclables like plastic bags, water bottle casings and more.

“The more people who know about this, the better we can recycle,” California said.

Dr. Fozi was impressed with California’s work ethic and desire to make more people aware of recycling practices.

“She was the engine behind the project,” Fozi said, adding that the ɫ����Ƶ sustainability program’s ability to offer the new sustainability research grants is a great way to get people more engaged.

“I am very appreciative of the sustainability program, they are doing a good job when it comes to education,” he said. “It’s extremely important for our students to engage in their local environment. They are the next generation and helping them develop habits of caring for the environment is part of that.”

Liu said she hopes more faculty and students will take advantage of the grant program.

“We are putting out the call for everyone to get involved,” she said.

Do you have a ɫ����Ƶ story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu 

It’s extremely important for our students to engage in their local environment. They are the next generation and helping them develop habits of caring for the environment is part of that.

When administrators with ɫ����Ƶ Waste Management were looking to hire a new recycling program manager, they wanted someone imaginative. That’s exactly what they found when Cameron Cruzen, ’22, walked in the door.

Initially, the computer science major was only interested in collecting recyclable items from bins across campus as a floor worker. However, during the interview process Facilities Administrator Ann Wood saw potential.

“I asked if he’d be interested in the recycling program manager position instead. Fortunately for me, he accepted the position. I really like his creative style,” Wood said.

While Cruzen hopes to pursue a career as a game developer, he also enjoys creating art. He’s thrilled to use his hidden talents in his new role to spread awareness about recycling.

His drawing skills came into play when Wood asked him to create posters to display across campus promoting ɫ����Ƶ’s recycling practices and special events.

“I try to construct the posters in a way that is more informative than we’ve had before, to push out new programs and ultimately inform the campus,” he said.

Other than the posters, Cruzen’s main responsibilities include developing content that is then shared on ɫ����Ƶ Waste Management social media platforms, which he also manages.

“Social media is not something I expected to be in charge of, but through this job it’s helped me develop a new skill set,” he said.

Performing the tasks may be required for his job, but for Cruzen recycling and climate change is something he’s personally invested in.

“I’ve always kept up to date on what is going on in terms of the global environment. It’s a big concern among young people, and I’m no different,” he said.

Since recycling is a way to leave a smaller carbon footprint, it’s important for people to understand the right ways to recycle and what types of recycling programs are in place at ɫ����Ƶ, he added.

Bridgewater operates under a multi-stream system which offers separate recycling. Across campus are specifically marked containers for people to properly dispose of their waste.

ɫ����Ƶ also offers a textile recycling program for students to discard items such as unwanted clothing, linens, shoes, and belts. This comes in particularly handy during move-out days.

The university recently received national recognition for its participation in the Campus Race to Zero Waste Program. Schools across the country tallied the number of papers, plastic, and cardboard collected from Jan. 30 through March 26.

“Campus Race to Zero Waste program is a great way for people to contribute to keeping the campus clean, and competing against other universities hopefully got people interested,” Cruzen said.

While Cruzen’s new job certainly helps to flesh out his resume, it also allows him to do his part when it comes to the environment.

“If I can raise awareness on how recycling should be done, and help people learn different ways to recycle on campus, it’s a good long-term goal and helps to make operational change,” he said.

Do you have a ɫ����Ƶ story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu

If I can raise awareness on how recycling should be done, and help people learn different ways to recycle on campus, it’s a good long-term goal and helps to make operational change.

A group of student-interns have joined the global sustainability movement and are doing their part to educate the campus community.

“I think there is a great desire to have ɫ����Ƶ be a green campus and sustainable, but people don’t know what we are doing to achieve this,” said sustainability intern Elizabeth Whalen, ’22, a biology major. “The biggest part is making people aware of what’s going on.”

Elizabeth is part of a team of interns tasked with educating others and promoting the ɫ����Ƶ Sustainability Program, the sustainability and innovation minor, and ɫ����Ƶ’s Environmental Action Team (E.A.T.).

The interns recently shared why they wanted to take up the cause.

“I don’t think people even realize we have an environmental action team here on campus,” said intern MacKenzie Vianna ’25, who is majoring in environmental geology.

Elizabeth looks to change this as the sustainability program’s social media manager. Through various online channels, she pushes out information about the program, the minor, and E.A.T.

“Our social media  has been huge in helping us get the word out,” Elizabeth said. “Seeing students react and engage has been encouraging.”

Grace Dooner, ’22, signed on to be an intern because her goal is to pursue a career in sustainability, which is why on top her art major she is also pursuing the sustainability and innovation minor. She’s been introduced to many different classes that promote sustainability practices, making it easier for her to perform her marketing duties as an intern.

“I think it’s important for students to know they can still take classes within the minor to learn about ways to live more sustainably,” she said.

Grace also works with her fellow interns to create events and opportunities to encourage the Bridgewater community to think more about sustainability.

One example is the permaculture garden, which MacKenzie is involved with. The garden is located near the Miles and DiNardo residence halls. Produce grown in the garden supports the ɫ����Ƶ Food Pantry.

“The garden shows a way to be self-sustainable, and what it feels like to grow your own food,” MacKenzie said. “It helps create a symbiotic relationship. We take care of the earth, and the earth will take care of us.”

Xiangrong Liu, associate professor and sustainability program co-coordinator also works with student-intern Jenalyn Warcup to observe the day-to-day operations of a local farm to better understand climate change from a farmer’s perspective.

The interns’ efforts are designed to show ɫ����Ƶ students that practicing sustainability isn’t overwhelming.

“It doesn’t have to be scary,” MacKenzie said. “You don’t need to live off the grid. Little actions in your life can make you more sustainable,”.

Grace hopes that by better educating students, action can and will happen.

“Everyone needs to get in the mindset that we have to deal with the impacts of climate change,” she said.

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You don’t need to live off the grid. Little actions in your life can make you more sustainable.

For James and Pamela Hayes-Bohanan, sustainability is something they live every day. In fact, their Maple Avenue home, which abuts the west side of campus behind the Harrington Hall parking lot, is itself a model of sustainability.

Not only does its proximity to campus mean the couple never needs to drive to work, the 0.31-acre yard is listed as a World Wildlife Fund-designated backyard habitat. Solar panels, a bat box and many other elements promote sustainability and reduce the family’s carbon footprint.

While visiting Gray’s Daily Grind in Westport with Dr. Hayes-Bohanan’s Coffee Week class, ɫ����Ƶ students (from left) Susie Beckwith; Olga Lindsey, ’17; and Karen Ormaza, ’16, get hands-on experience milling corn meal from locally sourced corn at the adjacent Gray’s Grist Mill with guidance from mill operator George Whitley.

“I can stand in the yard and talk about this for an hour,” said Dr. James Hayes-Bohanan, a professor in the Department of Geography who’s been full time at ɫ����Ƶ since 1997. “The fact that it’s so close to campus gives me a chance to share it and show it to students.”

Pamela Hayes-Bohanan is a librarian and adjunct Spanish professor, who began her career at Bridgewater State on a part-time basis the same year her husband arrived, and became a full-time employee in 2002. Both have been committed to environmental causes for much of their 34 years of marriage. It manifests not only in their home, but also in the activities they pursue, in both their professional and personal lives.

ɫ����Ƶ students Ariana Barbosa, ’17, (left) and Eve Vernet, ’19, hold baskets from a coffee harvest while in Nicaragua.

“We are both passionate about it,” Ms. Hayes-Bohanan said. “It informs a lot of things we do.” Their home, she added, is “where our work and personal lives converge.”

The couple has been involved with ɫ����Ƶ’s Sustainability Program since its founding, and regularly include in their lesson plans sustainability, environmentalism and social justice. Ms. Hayes-Bohanan taught the course “Sustainability 101” on two occasions. Even when teaching a Spanish class, she manages to work in these subjects that are near to her heart.

Pamela Hayes-Bohanan joins librarian and teacher Jacoba Cantarero and a young girl named Paola in the library at the high school in La Corona, Nicaragua, during a ɫ����Ƶ study tour.

A longtime area of interest and scholarship for Dr. Hayes- Bohanan is coffee. His doctoral program focused in large part on Latin American studies. Two years after he arrived at ɫ����Ƶ, someone introduced him to a coffee buyer from Equal Exchange, a global cooperative in West Bridgewater, and his interest on the topic of coffee grew.

“That changed everything, and I began to see coffee as something that was at the intersection of environmental and Latin American studies,” he said.

Of surprise to him was that coffee growers in Latin America get only one percent of what Americans pay for coffee. He’s working to bring awareness to this inequity and hopes to one day help change it. “Treating farmers and the land better means you get better coffee,” he said, not to mention it speaks to the idea of social sustainability.

For years, Dr. Hayes-Bohanan has taken study tours to Nicaragua to visit and work on coffee farms. For many of his students, it’s a highlight of their time at ɫ����Ƶ.

As part of one of Dr. Hayes-Bohanan’s study tours in Nicaragua, ɫ����Ƶ students and alumni learn about the process of sorting and drying coffee at the La Corona home of the Rayo-Granado family. Also looking on is local guide Freddy Membreño (second from right), who has assisted Dr. Hayes-Bohanan on several of his tours.

Ms. Hayes-Bohanan has joined her husband on several of these trips.

Emblematic of her commitment to the environment is an apple tree outside the entrance of the library. Not wanting to see it neglected, as the apples were high in the branches, she decided she would make it easier for the campus community to enjoy its fruit. A professor friend had the idea to get an apple picker. Ms. Hayes-Bohanan made it happen. “Now there are two apple pickers in the library, and they’re in the catalog,” she said.

While in Costa Rica on a study tour, Nahthan Paul, ’20; Christen Couture, ’20; and Ally Osborne, ’20, (from front) are headed to an overnight stay in an indigenous Bribri community in the Costa Rica/Panama border area. The pilot of the boat is a member of the Bribri community.

Her professional philosophy on sustainability as a veteran librarian is a holistic one. “All the work I do I see as a piece of the puzzle,” she said. “Libraries are the original resource-sharing place. You don’t have to buy more books and use more paper. We have it all here.”

The couple’s commitment has influenced many of the students they’ve taught over the years to be more
conscious of the environment and sustainability. A good number have followed in their footsteps (two are
featured in these pages). It’s proof that one of the most effective ways to teach is by good example.
“Something we say all the time,” Ms. Hayes-Bohanan said, “is everything is connected to everything else.”

We are both passionate about [environmental causes]. It informs a lot of things we do. Our home is where our work and personal lives converge.

Growing up on Cape Cod, senior Sean Walsh says he witnessed the ways in which climate change affected his surroundings.

“I’ve seen the declining fisheries, plastic pollution and rising sea levels,” the Harwich resident said. “The beaches I had gone to as a child have less and less sand each year, as erosion takes a toll. For me the oceans have always been very important.”

That’s why when he was approached about joining the Environmental Action Team he didn’t hesitate.

An economics major with a minor in sustainability, Sean is now the president of the club, which at the start of the spring semester had about 10 members and is always looking for more.

“Climate change is such a big issue, it feels like as one person you really can’t make a difference,” he said. “But if you get a group of like-minded people together, you can do more. It’s empowering to work as a group and know we can tackle these huge issues that seemed impossible.”

The Environmental Action Team was founded in 2018 by Anna Lockett, ’19, a marketing major from Somerset, who is now a volunteer with AmeriCorps working in marketing and community outreach with the YMCA of Greater Boston’s education and training branch. The student-run club’s official mission is to promote sustainable and regenerative change on campus. Members are responsible for educating the ɫ����Ƶ community about ecological issues, providing solutions for unsustainable practices and “having fun while making positive change.”

The impetus for the formation of the club was right outside Ms. Lockett’s residence hall door.

“I noticed things on campus that weren’t that sustainable, and I thought if we had a group of students, we could make a change,” she said.

Aliza Nantais, ’20, who majored in English, was the first to sign on. She and Ms. Lockett expanded the club’s ranks by enlisting friends; word of mouth brought in others.

The members meet weekly (which they continued to do virtually in the first half of 2021 due to the pandemic) and hold cleanup events on campus. They also affiliated themselves with faculty members of ɫ����Ƶ’s Sustainability Program and hosted movie nights, where club members and others concerned about the environment watched relevant documentaries.

In 2019, the club’s first project was a fundraiser for the United Kingdom-based Tree Sisters, a social change organization with a mission important to members of the ɫ����Ƶ group: accelerating tropical reforestation around the world.

The Environmental Action Team partnered with local business Equal Exchange, a worker-owned cooperative, to raise money for Tree Sisters. They brought in enough funds for the organization to plant 335 trees in several rainforests around the world.

The team also procured additional recycling bins in East Campus Commons, worked on the campus’ permaculture gardens, created handbags from repurposed materials from the ɫ����Ƶ Costume Shop, organized a campus-wide climate strike, volunteered at the Garlic and Arts Festival in Orange, hosted a sustainable items giveaway and held an event to educate students about the importance of voting for political candidates who want to protect the environment.

However, in 2020, the pandemic wreaked havoc with the team’s plans, said Franklin resident Haley Normandin, ’21.

“We were faced with two options – stop the club and return in the fall, or choose to move online,” said Haley, former club president. It was clear to the group that interrupting their work wasn’t an option. They’ve been conducting meetings online, sharing ecologically focused documentaries via laptop and remaining as active as possible in the community with socially distanced cleanups.

In addition to educating their peers and others about the environment, along with holding local events, the club has served another important purpose, Haley said, especially through its regular meetings. “I think this is a very important time for clubs because everyone is feeling so isolated. It gives people a sense of consistency.”

Climate change is such a big issue, it feels like as one person you really can’t make a difference. But if you get a group of like-minded people together, you can do more. It’s empowering to work as a group and know we can tackle these huge issues that seemed impossible.