“We need people to stay motivated, and you can’t get people motivated without first informing them,” says Sustainability Advocacy Intern Magenta Loera as she discusses spreading awareness of the troubles to come for our environment in the near future, if nothing is done to stop them. On Wednesday, May 8 at 1:30 p.m. in room D-126, the Environmental Club aired the film “Tapped” to do exactly this, spread awareness. This film is one of the most commonly used in enlightening the general public on the adverse effects of the usage of plastic water bottles. Among the fairly large turnout at this event, students agreed that the film was interesting and informative.
It is the hope of Komalpreet Sahota, president of the Environmental Club, as well as others actively engaging in the club with her, that there will be a decrease in plastic water bottle usage on the BC campus. Sahota also urges students to engage in properly composting and recycling their materials. “We are young adults with a lot of power to make our community a more sustainable, environmentally friendly and healthy place,” says Sahota as she speaks of the Environmental Club’s efforts in decreasing the use of not only plastic bottles, but plastic bags as well.
Alongside the Environmental Club, the Student Environmental Sustainability Fund works towards the same goal of achieving a sustainable community. “We need people who say ‘Okay, enough is enough. How can I be a part of this change?’” says Magenta Loera when speaking of the daunting intimidation people feel when thinking of the big picture effects the actions of humans have on the environment, while accounting for the amount of power and money the big oil companies have over each individual. “In order to take back that power, we have to believe in ourselves,” says Loera. As one can see walking past the water fountains on campus, water bottle dispensers have been added, thanks to the SESF. Their current project is to get 1,000 signatures from students, and 200 signatures from staff in a petition for the Coal Free PSE campaign, which was recently launched.
Students who are interested in making change and helping with creating a more environmentally friendly, healthy and sustainable community can do so by taking even small steps like composting their unfinished food, recycling, using a reusable water bottle as opposed to a plastic one, and simply signing a sheet of paper working towards using cleaner energy instead of coal. “It’s awesome to see the students involved with these issues,” says Magenta Loera.