Students work to turn Southern green
Green Sustainability, a long-term project that strives to make Chattanooga a less polluted city, is coming to Southern’s campus.
Enactus, a nonprofit organization that spreads across 36 countries, wishes to encourage the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” system on Southern’s campus.
“Our first goal is to make Southern a plastic-free and Styrofoam-free school,” Majo Morán said. “We want to make Southern the most eco-friendly school in Chattanooga. This is not something for only this year. We want it to last for a long time.”
This semester is the first that Green Sustainability has been introduced to Enactus. “We try to meet the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals,” said Enactus President Eileen Flores. The Enactus team wishes to dedicate the first semester of intensive research to the presence of plastic around campus.
The team plans to slowly reduce any form of unnecessary plastic, mainly from the cafeteria. A first attempt will be to eliminate the straws and eventually Styrofoam. Future plans for the project include putting in place cardboard, glass, paper and plastic recycling bins.
Ever since her junior year of high school, [Enactus project manager] Maria Morán-Hernandez has had a fascination for ecology and climate change. She decided she wants to introduce and share her passion with the rest of the student body at Southern.
“I never thought that I would end up being project manager for Enactus and this project at Southern,” Morán said. Enactus hopes that Green Sustainability will have an important impact on the students at Southern, and that the project will be a part of the school for the long term.
Image credit: Enactus