State University of New York at Cortland
Tier2-1: Student Group

The Environmental Science Club (Cortland Student Advocating for a Valuable Environment [C-SAVE]) was formed in Fall of 2007 and received formal recognition from the student government the following spring. In its first four years, the Environmental Science Club has undertaken a number of activities and projects including: • Carrying out a light-bulb exchange program with the help of Timothy Slack, the Director of Physical Plant in which the students from C-SAVE helped distribute compact florescent light-bulbs purchased by the University and installed them into the residence halls while at the same time providing tips on how students could save energy. • Organizing three Black Out events conducted in the residence halls to highlight wasteful energy consumption patterns on October 28, 2008, October 29, 2009, and October 28, 2010. The first two of these events were organized in cooperation with the Green Reps (see ER-1). • Helping to create two “bottle tree” exhibits to highlight the number of plastic water bottles the campus consumes every week which were on display during December 2008 and April 2010. These projects were also done with the cooperation of the Green Rep Program. • Traveling to the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lewis County, New York on October 4, 2009 and September 25, 2010, to the Lackawanna Coal Mine in Scranton, Pennsylvania on November 18, 2007 and May 1, 2010, and to the Seneca Meadows Landfill in Waterloo, NY on April 17, 2011. The trips to both the wind farm and the coal mine were organized in conjunction with the Physics and Engineering Club. • Showing the film "Split Estate: What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You" regarding the impacts of natural gas drilling on November 12, 2009. • Presenting the Earth Café 2050 program developed at Ithaca College to illustrate the concept of the ecological footprint at the first SUNY Cortland Sustainability Week on Earth Day April 22, 2010. In addition, the SUNY Cortland Recreation Association (SCRA) is a second student club that actively engages its members with environmental issues. For example, members of SCRA work closely with volunteers from courses such as REC 445: Administration of Recreation class and REC 470: Senior Seminar as well as with members of the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department in taking a leadership role in the Community Bike Project. The project, supported by Action Sports, Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC), SUNY Cortland Cycling Club, the Cortland County Healthy Heart Program, and Kionix, provides bicycles to the campus community to help reduce its reliance on vehicles for transportation. These include: (1) Yellow Bikes, which can be checked out free of charge for short-term use from the Bike Shop located near the Lusk Field House; (2) Red Bikes, which can be checked out for the whole semester for a $25 fee; and (3) Green Bikes, which are three wheel hauler bikes that can be purchased by departments or other groups to aid in moving things around campus without having to resort to using a vehicle. In addition, members of SCRA have participated in other activities such as the River Clean Up at Suggett Park and the Finger Lake Trail Clean Up as well as helping with trail maintenance at Lime Hollow and organizing many outdoor trips to places such as the Cayuga Nature Center, Beaver lake, Raquette Lake, and Buttermilk Falls. Finally, members of SCRA have also helped to organize an annual outdoor gear swap each of the last three years in which everything from hiking boots to a kayak have been brought in and resold, allowing for the gear to be reused by new owners.