Sustainability - Green Notes

Every October, the Office of Sustainability hosts “Sustainability Month.” This is a month-long event to both practice and engage students in on and off-campus sustainability. This year, we were finally able to get back to hosting in-person events, and we want to tell you all about it! Keep reading for some sustainable fun!

All month long, we partnered with the Volpe Library to display a sustainable book showcase. This is something we have done in the past, and it is always so fun. This showcase featured titles such as, Where the Crawdads Sing, The Lorax, Silent Spring and more! We love partnering with the library to do this showcase because it allows us to show how sustainability can be a part of every genre and subject. Whether you prefer fiction or nonfiction, there is sure to be something that interests you in this book display!

One thing we do every year that always proves to be a hit is our Pollinator Packets. These packets are hand decorated by our student workers and filled with plantable pencils, seed paper bookmarks, eco eagles pin, pollinator stickers, crayons, and informational pollinator coloring sheets. The purpose of creating these packets and handing them out is to show students just how important our pollinators are. Without them, our world would be desolate and devoid of color. These packets both show appreciation and call attention to our local pollinators. 

Our annual Sustainability Day Event on Centennial Plaza was a complete success! Last year, we were unable to do this due to COVID-19 restrictions, so it was such a treat to get back out on the Plaza to spread the word of sustainability to students. Not only did the Office of Sustainability set up a table at this event, but four other on and off-campus groups came out to join us in engaging students in sustainability efforts they can make or ones they may not have even knew they were making. Thank you to the following groups for joining us on this awesome day: Cookeville Clean Commission, Cookeville Electric, Housing and Design Association, and SMACS. 

We ended the month with an event that has actually been cancelled for the past three years due to rain. This year, we were finally able to host our Halloween Costume Bike Trail Clean-up! Students were encouraged to dress up in a Halloween costume to join us as we picked up litter from the mile of the bike trail that Tennessee Tech has adopted. We are so happy that the rain held out and allowed us to finally get to host this clean-up event! 

Slowly but surely we are all getting back in the swing of in-person event planning and hosting, but Sustainability Month was a complete success in our book! Were you able to attend any of our events? If you missed out on something you wish you didn't, be sure to follow us on social media where we post all of our event details! Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s Sustainability Month the best one yet! Stay tuned for next year. Wings up, Eco Eagles!

Instagram: @TNTechEcoEagles

Twitter: @TNTechEcoEagles

Facebook: TTU Sustainable Campus Committee