By Jack Wynn

University of Maryland students gathered at Hornbake Plaza to learn about campus sustainability and connect with different student organizations at the Sustainability Month Celebration Oct. 27.

The event, hosted by this university’s office of sustainability, included rows of tables around Hornbake Plaza with informational materials and engaging activities to draw students in and educate them about campus sustainability. 

Each October, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education reaches out to schools across the country to organize events that feature messages supporting sustainability. 

“Different people [are] here helping students learn more about sustainability on campus,” said Solana Page, an intern for the office of sustainability. “[There are] different ways they can engage and also help clubs get more recognition.” 

One table that drew passing students was run by the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, a student-led environmental advocacy club, and this university’s Department of Transportation Services to comment on cruise ships’ disruption of marine life sustainability.

“When we were brainstorming ideas we were thinking about cruise ships and how inefficient they are and how much danger they pose to the marine environment.” Sustainable Ocean Alliance member Allen Yuan said. 

The stand included a bin filled with water with an aluminum “cruise ship” with pieces of trash inside. Participants were asked to navigate the cruise ship across the water while avoiding toys that represented marine life and without spilling any garbage. This nearly impossible task emphasized the impact cruise ships have on our oceans, Yuan said.

“The overall theme is trying to educate the greater campus community about how bad cruise ships are, how inefficient they are, how much energy they waste, how much trash they pollute, and how directly dangerous they are with marine organisms,” Yuan said. 

Other popular areas of the celebration included a place for students to play environmentally friendly cornhole. Unlike in the standard game, students at the celebration had to determine if items designated to bean bags being tossed such as food or plastics should be tossed in the recyclable, compost or disposal bin. This allowed students to both have fun and learn a little more about what to do with waste.

Events such as the Sustainability Month Celebration emphasize the importance of Sustainability in our society, Yuan said. It’s important that this university uses events such as the Sustainability Month Celebration to be “a school that’s at the forefront of sustainability,” according to Yuan. 

“Students have been receptive of sustainability,” office of sustainability associate Savannah Holt said. “There’s a lot of focus on sustainability and climate change, so we try to continue that from a University perspective.”

Holt explained that ideas of sustainability and climate control should be included in the university-required training modules students are expected to complete before attending the school. Doing so would force incoming students to have a general knowledge of the expectations for sustainability and how to be a positive force on campus, Holt said.

“We want to do something at the University of Maryland to show support for the different sustainability initiatives,” Holt said.

Featured Image: students attend the Sustainability Month Celebration on Oct. 27, 2023. Photo by Liya Osiyemi.