Organizations involved in sustainability initiatives lined the lobby of the Activities and Recreation Center on Monday with tables at the Sustainability Week kickoff event.
“We have a lot of graduates across campus that are not aware of all our efforts,” said Morgan Johnston, sustainability coordinator for Facilities and Services.
She said the week is an opportunity for students and faculty to get involved in the sustainability movement.
The Illinois Student Senate’s Environmental Sustainability subcommittee lined its “Tap That” table with small plastic cups marked “1” and “2.” The “1s” were filled with tap water and the “2s” were filled with bottled water. The group conducted a blind taste test to see if people could tell the difference and if so, which cup they preferred.
Amy Liu, chair of the “Tap That” campaign and sophomore in Fine and Applied Arts, said the campaign encouraged students to rely more on tap water rather than bottled water.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
“We’re trying to prove that tap water is just as high quality, at a lower price, and that it also tastes better, if not at least the same,” Liu said.
The registered student organization Students for Environmental Concerns is holding its own type of taste-testing event for sustainability week — a bike-powered blender that will produce smoothies during Bike Fix-It Day on Wednesday.
“There’s fresh fruit, and you’re basically just paying for the fruit and blend it yourself,” said Linda Qiu, secretary and junior in LAS. “The Bike Fix-It Day is promoting people to bike on campus instead of bringing down their cars. This is a benefit for people who do bike.”
Stephanie Lage, assistant director for the Office of Sustainability, said she hoped students would join in with the banners, bikes and Zipcars the office will have in the Homecoming parade.
The various aspects of sustainability that students learn at the University could translate into worldwide sustainability awareness, Johnston said. That way, they could see an unsustainable practice, such as the lack of recycling in their workplace, and change it.
“Sustainability Week is an opportunity for students across campus, whether you do it on a daily basis or not, to learn what our campus is doing,” Johnston said.
Claire can be reached at [email protected].
