When Sidney Schliesman, Justice Jay and Tahj Anderson attended the Southeastern Student Sustainability Conference in February 2020, they had no idea that it would set them off on a year-long journey to establish Clemson’s very own Office of Sustainability.
At the conference at Appalachian State University last year, which was attended by students from 16 different schools, one thing stood out. “We noticed that every other school had a sustainability office other than us [Clemson],” said Schliesman, a junior environmental and natural resources major.
Schliesman, Jay and Anderson were determined to change that. Back in Clemson, they rolled up their sleeves and got to work, holding weekly meetings (sometimes multiple meetings per week), drafting and submitting an official Request for Proposal and working to build relationships with Clemson University officials.
Marcus Curry, Clemson’s sustainability coordinator, helped them liaise with administration. By July 2020, the Office of Sustainability had been established as an official department at Clemson University. The team kept working and eventually brought on a new team member, Court Kittel, to manage their monthly sustainability newsletter, “The Green Paw.”
The students work on an entirely unpaid, volunteer basis. This, however, has not stopped them from dreaming big about the future of the Office of Sustainability.
“One of the biggest issues on campus is that a lot of sustainability organizations never work together,” said Anderson, a sophomore computer science major. “One long-term goal for us is that the office becomes an umbrella for every single sustainability organization on campus.” Anderson hopes the office will become a hub where student groups can apply for funding, share ideas, and coordinate initiatives.
Jay, a junior environmental engineering major, said another of their goals is keeping Clemson accountable for initiatives like the Sustainability Action Plan, which was last updated in 2011.
The students hope to see the office grow to include student interns and full-time employees, and they plan to work closely with university administration to further sustainability initiatives at Clemson.
Due to financial constraints caused by the pandemic, the office has been unable to acquire funding and has not yet procured a physical space, but the students hope things will progress more quickly going forward.
The Office of Sustainability is currently running the “Plant Your Feet” initiative, which allows students to log the number of miles they walk or run and the team’s partners will plant trees in the Clemson area based on those miles.
The students are also developing the “Adopt-a-Spot” program to connect student groups with volunteer opportunities to pick up trash in the Clemson area and a social media campaign in conjunction with the “Campus Race to Zero Waste,” a nationwide competition to reduce campus waste.
Schliesman, Jay and Anderson all got involved in sustainability at Clemson through EcoReps, a leadership program designed to help students who live on Clemson’s campus find innovative ways to make the housing and dining experience more sustainable. “I got into sustainability my freshman year when I got involved with EcoReps. It was a life-changing experience and [sustainability] became a passion,” said Jay.
Anderson said his interest in sustainability began as a senior in high school when he watched the documentary “Chasing Coral.” The film hit an emotional string and spurred his interest in sustainability.
Schliesman grew up in a household with a more eco-friendly mindset or as she puts it, her family is “just into that.” She was surprised by the culture she witnessed when she first came to Clemson. “When I got to college, I noticed that nobody cared about [sustainability] at all,” she said. “Nobody recycled and nobody knew anything about sustainability or the environment. It really shocked me.”
The trio aspire to change the campus culture at Clemson through student outreach and advocacy programs.
The EcoReps program brought the three students together and the Southeastern Student Sustainability Conference gave them an impetus to act. Schliesman, Jay and Anderson envision a Clemson University emboldened and united by its commitment to sustainability. Through hurdles and challenges, they always keep Curry’s personal motto in mind: “Sustainability works when we work together!”
You can find more information about the Office of Sustainability on TigerQuest or on Instagram at @clemsonsustainability.
