IWU’s Sustainability Club exists to admire God’s creation and implement good environmental practices through their events on and off campus.
Although this group prioritizes recycling, they are not related to the Recycling Club. Rather, they focus on the many forms of sustainable living, including picking up trash, encouraging water conservation and informing people about pollution.
“It’s very service based and open to anyone,” Faculty Advisor, Professor Buck said. “It’s our way of honoring God with the things that he has created.”
The club recognizes that many students have busy schedules, so they only require that a student comes to one event a year to be considered a member. Some of these events consist of cleaning the Cardinal Greenway, visiting the zoo and arranging a river cleanup.
The Clothing Swap was a recent event that took place on Dec. 5 where students could donate and take clothing items. The leftover clothes equaled at least 15-20 bags that were then donated.
Lauren Speicher, Vice President of the Sustainability Club, said that her favorite activities are the clean-up days.
“You’re actively doing something,” Speicher said. “You see a difference when you’re done.”
Sydney Seabeck, a member of the organization, said that she saw the heart behind their mission during a cleanup of the Mississinewa River.
“It was sweet because it was a bunch of people that wanted to be there and you could tell it wasn’t just for class,” Seabeck said.
Outside of the club, IWU has a recycling center and farm on campus for food scraps to encourage sustainable practices. However, not everyone is aware of these resources.
Grace Goodfellow, the President of the Sustainability Club, said that “I think they could do a better job advertising some of the things they do.”
The organization currently has around 60-70 members and they are hoping to grow this amount even more.
“Our club motto is to know a place is to love a place, to love a place is to care for it and to care for it is to preserve it for generations to come” Goodfellow said.
To learn more about the Sustainability Club, follow their Instagram at iwu.sustainability.club
