Is it a team? Is it a project? Maybe it should be club.
It has not been clarified as to what Green Solutions organized ranking is, as of right now. The terms “team” and “project” have been used; the Facebook page for the group is labeled “Green Solutions Team.”
The group is working on considering becoming a club. However, it seems that one half would like to stay on the non-club side and the other half thinks differently. Team member Codie Salvador believes making the team a club is the way to go.
“Green Solutions has been an SGA official club in the past, but is not currently,” Salvador said. “I would like this to change because the SGA could provide the group a great number of advantages; for instance, they would match whatever fund raising money we would make.”
One other advantage to becoming a club would be to boost the recognition of the group, which is something all participating members would like to see. Green Solutions is always looking to welcome new peers, preferably people who are concerned about environmental issues and want to do something concrete.
The team has had successful efforts to accomplish its goals in the past years together, such as participating in the Earth Day festival and in local green-up initiatives.
“The main goals are to bring awareness to our community of how easy it is to keep our environment clean, green, and beautiful by the little steps it takes,” Salvador said. “Also, to do projects that focus on that, for example going to Prospect Rock and picking up all the trash.”
I was able to experience the Prospect Rock clean-up firsthand on Thursday, Sept. 27. Every other Thursday, the Green Solutions team has a meeting among students in Russ Weis’ “Thinking Globally, Eating Locally” first-year seminar. The purpose of this was to get some of the students’ perspectives on what should be done around campus to “green it up,” which was how the idea of cleaning up Prospect Rock came about.
Not only was it a great experience to be able to see the view from the top of the rock; it was also an enjoyable way to pick up trash with classmates and the Green Solutions team. After the hike up and doing some picking up at the base, a recorded 23 trash items and 16 recyclables were collected. To celebrate our accomplishments, we had apples and apple cider before heading back to campus
The trip to Prospect Rock was no doubt one of the most notable experiences I’ve had at Johnson so far. The Green Solutions team was an awesome group to share it with
Salvador sees Green Solutions as a welcoming organization that would only benefit from an increased membership. “For someone who is interested in the club, I would tell them don’t be scared to make a difference,” he said. “It’s not as hard as some people think. It’s the small things you do that add up to making a real impact.”
The team will be doing plenty of greening and earth rallies in the near future. It plans to team up with Weis’s Thinking Globally class again to hold the Harvest Dinner on Nov. 8, where local food will be served as well as baked goods.
On Saturday, Nov. 10, high schools will come to Johnson for the annual Greening Summit. Green Solutions also has high hopes for a successful Earth Day festival on April 13 this year: “Gary” will hopefully bring his solar bus to campus to show off, and then the Green Solutions team will head to Washington D.C. for the Earth day rally.
If you have any questions regarding the Green Solutions team, or have interest in joining, contact one of the Green Solutions Members: Jasmine Yuris, Codie Salvador, Alyssa Greene, or Part-Time Instructor of Writing and Literature Russ Weis.
