Inside the SSC > Spotlight Group of the Month

February 2006

The OSU Sierra Student Coalition is a group of about 15 active members working in coalition on a variety of campus and community issues. The group was highly active in the 2004 elections and canvassed through the Ohio Sierra Club's EVEC program. The group is now involved heavily in an initiative to reduce OSU's energy costs through sustainability and energy efficiency programs. The campaign has created a relationship with Energy Star to completely furnish several dorm rooms with Energy Star products and individual metering systems. Over the next semester they will compare the cost savings of energy efficient products and be moving towards all dorms using Energy Star products. The group is also working with campus administration to convert the Ohio Union into a LEED certified building within the next couple of years. OSU SSC has also organized chili fund-raisers and cash donations to send 15-20 students (both SSCers and other students within the environmental community on campus) to attend the COOL conference being hosted by Idealist.org The OSU SSC has brought in local Sierra Club energy organizers to speak at their meetings - proactively bridging the traditional gap between SSC and SC. The group also has created a "yogi" position for themselves. The group yogi is charged with the job of energy watcher and fun provider. So for example the yogi will stop a meeting and lead everyone in song if she/he feels ppl are zoning out. As a fun provider, the yogi plans parties, potlucks and other group activities outside of school.

January 2006

Working as a part of the SSC's Campus Climate Challenge, the Whitman College Campus Greens have received a commitment from their school to purchase 20% of the campus’ energy from renewable sources. A victory like this isn’t easy to come by. The Greens have been tirelessly working since spring semester 2004 on this campaign. In April 2004 they achieved their first campaign goal, securing a 4% purchase, ensuring that Whitman was Washington state’s first school to switch to clean power. But that wasn’t good enough for the SSC's energy activists. They continued to build support for clean energy and in April 2005 convinced 80% of the campus to support a $5 increase in tuition for the purpose of buying renewable energy. As a direct result of the Greens’ tireless efforts over the past year and a half, the administration proposed to spend $15,000 a year on renewable energy. The school’s Board of Trustees will voted in February 2006 purchase approximately 20% of their energy from renewable sources.

December 2005

The Sierra @ Truman group gets this month’s award for all-around quality activism- these folks really are a model SSC group! Early in the semester they showed the movie "Being Caribou" with an Arctic letter-writing session afterward. The other big event of the semester was participation in the Day of Action for the Boreal Forest during which Sierra @ Truman collected just over 200 signatures to send in to Victoria 's Secret to protest the corporation’s exploitation of the Boreal Forest to produce its catalogues.

In between these actions, the group invited Ozark Chapter Director Carla Klein to speak on campus, took a trip to nearby Thousand Hills State Park to do some hiking, organized a fundraiser at Halloween, organized a cake walk for children on Halloween as a service event, and showed Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax" at a local elementary school.

Also, Sierra @ Truman participates in Missouri 's Stream Team program, which collects water quality data from sites around the state. Sierra @ Truman monitors a creek which runs through the campus as well as a nearby river. In the coming semester, the group will continue with the Stream Team, and potentially add a third site.

November 2005

University of Washington , Seattle , WA and Redmond High School , Redmond , WA :

Combined, the “U dub” and Redmond High School groups sent in over one hundred and fifty photo-petitions for Representative Dave Reichert to the SSC office, urging him to “VOTE NO” on budget reconciliation. Their efforts paid off as Rep. Reichert stood up as one of only 25 congressional Republicans who refused to vote for any budget bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Rep. Reichert actually held up their pictures, as part of a huge collage the SSC made with them, when he announced his opposition to the vote during a press conference on Nov. 12! In addition, SSC calls and letters also made a big difference – at that same press conference Rep. Reichert stated that over 95% of all constituent comments he received expressed opposition to drilling in the Refuge.

Bowdoin College , Brunswick , ME and College of the Atlantic , Bar Harbor , ME :

The Bowdoin College group alone sent in over one hundred photo-petitions to the SSC office for each of Maine ’s Senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. While Arctic drilling did indeed pass the Senate version of the budget bill, Senators Snowe and Collins were among the five Republicans who refused to vote for the budget with language that would allow for drilling in the Refuge included. In addition, the College of the Atlantic group sent in over 75 hand written letters for each Maine Senator after doing “dorm storms” to collect the letters and hosting a showing of the documentary “Oil on Ice.” Thanks to the efforts of these two groups, Maine ’s two Senators refused to go along with their party’s environmentally and socially destructive efforts. Way to go!!!

October 2005

School : Reed College
Location: Portland , Oregon
History: 3-4 years in the ssc universe
What has the group accomplished recently? : They have been doing amazing organizing to convince Senator Smith to oppose any budget that includes Arctic drilling. They have been getting dozens of phone calls to his office and last tuesday did a rally at his Portland office to deliver 50 hand-written letters, at which 40 people dressed up as a herd of caribou.
How have their actions improved things? : They are doing awesome work to hold Sen. Smith accountable for his campaign pledge to protect the Arctic Refuge.
Comments: One of their leaders is a MCSEAn.

May 2005

Congratulations to Ohio State University SSC! Our May award goes out to this stellar group for the diversity of their campaigns and projects to help support sustainability in their community and on campus. Their actions include cleaning up a local park, getting involved in the Sierra Club’s I Will Evolve Campaign (www.iwillevolve.org), and even engaging in direct action to help protect Dysart Woods, which is the last .004% of remaining old-growth forest in Ohio. They tabled to raise awareness and participated in  court-room sit-ins to convince the court against giving mining rights to Ohio Valley Coal. OSU SSC, in coalition with the Buckeye Forest Council, is waiting for the decision, and you can find updates and get involved by checking out this website: www.buckeyeforestcouncil.org

OSU SSC is also working on revamping the campus dining service to encourage recycling, save electricity, and buy recycled products.  In the road ahead, they hope to cut out the use of Styrofoam, and also persuade students to bring their own containers to reduce waste. Can this group get any cooler? Why yes! The Office of Student Affairs has invited this group of activists to work on the university’s efforts to lower energy intake in the dorms and residence halls. The university has already began installing eco-friendly appliances and preparing literature to promote conservation, and the OSU SSC will present these initiatives to the student body. This group wins for this month because they have given us a great example of how to work together with your campus or administration to create positive change in your environment. Thanks OSU SSC! We look forward to hearing more fantastic stories about you!

April 2005

Congratulations to St. Benedict’s Prep Environmental Club in Newark, New Jersey! As April 2005 SSC Group of the Month, we honor your commitment and passion for your work in the Justice for Bhopal Campaign. This group has worked for over a year on the campaign to clean up and bring justice for the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. Here’s a little background on the issue:

On December 3rd 1984, over 40 tons of highly poisonous gas leaked out of the pesticide factory of Union Carbide in Bhopal, India. An estimated half-million people were poisoned, and the health impacts continue to this day. The death toll is over 20,000 to date. It is estimated that 10-15 are dying every month. Union Carbide fled India, leaving behind huge rusting vats of toxic waste, which are leaking into the ground water today. Dow Chemical has since purchased 100% of Union Carbide, and the survivors of Bhopal are joined by an international network of environmental, labor, and human rights groups in demanding that Dow clean up the mess and provide medical care for those injured by Union Carbide's negligence. December 3, 2004 was the 20th anniversary of the worst industrial disaster in history.

In December of 2004, students at this college prep school showed the video, “Twenty Years Without Justice” and a slide show to the student body. On Friday Dec. 3rd the group went to NJIT and Rutgers and handed out information slips about the tragedy. In total they spoke to 650 students and 100 teachers at St. Benedict’s and at NJIT and Rutgers they spoke with about 150 students and 50 teachers.

Because of this group, the students at these various schools now know what happened 20 years ago and how to take action. On April 15th, St. Benedict’s Prep Environmental Club went to a “Get on the Bus” protest for Bhopal.

Despite little school funding and a year of no support from teachers, this group has stuck it out and are doing amazing things for this campaign and the movement for social and environmental justice. They could have easily shut down then, but their determination has showed the school how strong they believe in their abilities and the cause. In addition, they were able to start their own recycling program in the school. Can this group get any more fantastic?

If you want to take action for Bhopal and join this inspiring group in their efforts on campus and in your community, check out www.studentsforbhopal.org and learn how you can get started. This is an international campaign with international ramifications, and we need your help today.

We award St. Benedict’s Prep Environmental Club the April Spotlight because you remind us that environmentalism is not limited to wilderness protection, it is also about preserving human dignity and achieving environmental justice on a larger scale. Earth Day (Earth Month) is about seeing the larger picture, and this group has shown their abilities and compassion through their work on the Justice for Bhopal Campaign. THANK YOU St. Benedict’s Prep Environmental Club for your hard work and energy on this campaign that means so much to so many. Thank you so much.

March 2005

Congratulations to the Highland Park High School Roots and Shoots Environmental Club in Dallas, Texas! For the past few years, this high school group has worked on raising awareness both on campus and in its community on environmental issues and sustainable solutions. By launching an original “Junk Mail Trasher” campaign, students tabled in local parks and encouraged neighbors to reduce paper waste by removing themselves from direct mailing lists. For the past 5 years, this Roots and Shoots chapter (a branch of the Jane Goodall Institute) has hosted kids’ education classes for elementary school students. During the spring semester of each school year, high school members teach lessons on ecology and conservation to give kids a foundation in environmentalism to carry with them as they become adults. This group has also launched 2 large Earth Day Festivals which brought local environmental organizations into the community to get the public informed and involved. Roots and Shoots also participates in monthly shoreline cleanups at White Rock Lake in Dallas.

On campus, Roots and Shoots has launched successful cell-phone recycling programs and participated in the paper recycling program at the school. These motivated students have worked hard to survive in the heart of an extremely hostile area for progressive activism, and deserve the SSC Love for March 2005. To contact this group or see what other projects they are working on, check out http://hprs.tripod.com. Thank you HP Roots and Shoots and Keep Rockin’ the Boat!

February 2005

CONGRATULATIONS College of DuPage Sierra Club, DuPage County, Illinois! You have been granted the glory and honor of being the SSC's February Group of the Month!

We've heard through the grapevine about your stellar work with the SSC's Forest Protection Campaign targeting Victoria's Secret! This group worked with the organization, Forest Ethics, to host a presentation on the Boreal Forest and forest protection on campus. With a guest speaker from the organization, their event attracted both new membership and new energy to save the planet! This presentation at their campus was followed up by a demonstration in Chicago against Victoria Secret's unsustainable practices. YOU ARE AWESOME.

The College of DuPage Sierra Club will recieve a certificate of National Recognition from the SSC ExCom, their own spot in SSC Update and the National SSC website, SSC goodies, and a Vegan cookbook to celebrate! Special props to David Wilcox for being so cool.

Want to be a Group of the Month? Nominate yourself or others today for your chance at glory.