Oklahoma State University
EN-3: Student Life

The Student Government Association (SGA) Sustainability Committee promotes sustainability through programs such as Real Cowboys Recycle (tailgate recycling), OSU's EarthFest, Real Pokes Pass It On (move-out collections), and the Green Student Initiative (a small grant program for students to implement projects on campus). The Environmental Science Club strives to stimulate interest in Environmental Science at OSU and promote fellowship among students with environmental interests. Activities include waste audits, film screenings, river cleanups, water quality testing and topical lectures. Net Impact is an organization that teaches students the latest about sustainability, corporate responsibility, and social entrepreneurship. Activities include Small Steps Big Wins, the installation and promotion of water bottle refill stations on campus, and American Recycles Day event participation. Okstate Sierra Club organizes camping trips, hikes, film screenings, and litter clean-ups. OSU Vegetarians & Friends host local dinners where the group either cooks together or dines out to learn more about sustainable food choices. The Society of Environmental Scientists promotes and advances environmental knowledge and undertakes projects that enhance environmental quality and provide an avenue for Environmental Science graduate students and professionals. Activities include movie nights, river and lake clean-ups, and lectures. The Biosystems & Ag Engineering Graduate Student Association creates awareness about the process of planning, funding and implementing research projects to prepare graduate students for industry and the academic world. They have focused their Green Student Initiative awards on raising sustainability awareness in Family & Graduate Student Housing. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Student Chapter hosts programming events related to sustainability such as the ChemCar Competition, which requires students to design for zero environmental impact.

Family & Graduate Student Housing students share a community garden right in their neighborhood on campus. Each spring, residents may sign up for a 10' X 10' plot within the garden.

Real Pokes Pass It On is a collaborative effort between the SGA Sustainability Committee, Housing & Residential Life, Parent & Family Relations, and is co-sponsored by the Student Union Activities Board. At the end of the spring semester unwanted items such as clothing and furniture are collected from students and stored until the beginning of the fall semester when they are sold to students, faculty, and staff for reuse. Proceeds are donated to charity. This program is considered an enterprise as 1) summer storage place is solicited as a donation, 2) collected items are inventoried, 3) items are resold in fall for cash, which is collected and managed by students and donated to charity along with any unsold items.

The SGA Sustainability Committee operates a sustainable micro-finance program called the Green Student Initiative. Approximately $40,000 per year is awarded to students and student orgs. to conduct a green project on campus. Students must develop the project, create a budget, and written proposals. Finalists present the project idea to a panelists of judges and may receive up to $5,000 to carry out their initiative in the following academic year.

Each academic year, SGA Sustainability Committee hosts a Green Student Forum, which convenes leaders of about a dozen student orgs. that are related to sustainability. The GSI focuses on ways to collaborate throughout the year and especially during OSU's Earth Week and Earth Fest held in April. The Finding Center Conference, organized by OSU’s student chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, features internationally-known keynote speakers and breakout sessions that appeal to sustainability in design for engineers, policy makers, scientists, developers, land owners, community members, and more.  The full-day conference attracts students, regional professionals, faculty, alumni and the general public and is held in Stillwater every even year.

Landscape Architecture students often display installations of work that relates to sustainability such as recycle bins made from recycled or discarded materials. These installations have been showcased in the Student Union's gallery. Earth Week is hosted by SGA Sustainability and the Student Union Activities board. It occurs every year around Earth Day and focuses on educating the OSU community on sustainability and enjoying the outdoors with EarthFest as its center point. EarthFest features a day of music performances, student environmental design displays, sustainability exhibits, vendors, vegetarian food, and fun activities.

Outdoor Adventure emphasizes adventure, environmental awareness, personal development, safety training, wilderness travel and fun through its workshops and trip programs. As part of our program design philosophy, OSU Outdoor Adventure teaches and models the Principles of Leave No Trace ethics to student participants.

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The Office of Sustainability employs and trains students to conduct student outreach presentations and develop/execute marketing plans year-round for various sustainability programs, projects and events.

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The Sustainability Office offers volunteer projects to involve students and student orgs. that contribute to learning by introducing a challenge or issue, providing training, and monitoring progress. Volunteer projects range from helping with STARS data collection to marketing the water bottle refill stations to checking outdoor lighting around campus to ensure lights are not on during the day.

Get Involved - Quick Tips: https://sustainability.okstate.edu/quicktips