By Alicia Colegrove
University of Maryland faculty and staff participated in a plant propagation swap Wednesday and took home plants such as pothos, aloe vera, spider plants and cacti.
Organized by the Department of Environmental Safety, Sustainability and Risk, the swap aimed to brighten employees’ homes and workspaces while educating them about sustainability. The booth was featured at the UMD Farmers Market, an event hosting local vendors every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Savannah Holt, ESSR’s sustainability outreach and communications coordinator, said the swap is a great way to connect with faculty and staff.
“In the Office of Sustainability, we’ve kind of served as the connectors on campus, trying to make sure that everyone is aware of different sustainability programs,” Holt said.
Participants learned about ESSR initiatives such as the Sustainability Badge, which encourages staff and faculty to adopt eco-friendly habits, and the Green Workspace program, which partners with offices on campus to implement sustainable practices.
Trisha Raghuram, a senior psychology major and ESSR’s staff engagement intern, said the previous year’s propagation swap was one of the department’s most successful outreach events.
“Plants [are] something that, you know, everyone loves and everyone appreciates,” she said.
Due to the busy nature of many employees’ schedules, Raghuram said she aimed for the swap to be a grab-and-go event and a chance for employees to repurpose items instead of throwing them away.
“People are always looking to either freshen up their office, or some people have too many plants lying around,” she said.
Ginny Hutcheson, a learning experience designer at the UMD Teaching and Learning Transformation Center, said she learned about the swap from the ESSR newsletter.
“I always like getting new plants, especially free ones. So I brought some little pothos clippings from home today and just got a spider plant,” Hutcheson said.
When asked what her plans were with her new plant, Hutcheson said, “Hopefully keeping it alive. We’ll see.”
Linda Dye, a public inquiry coordinator for the Department of Resident Life, said she appreciated talking to ESSR representatives for advice on taking care of her new plant.
“They obviously are incredibly knowledgeable about what I’m picking out,” Dye said. “They were able to answer my question about how the aloe needs to be repotted and when, and I was actually happy to learn.”
Dye said she enjoys gardening as a hobby and went to the swap in search of plants she could restock her apartment with.
“I found a little baby aloe, and I love him to death,” Dye said.
Dye said she’s also the sustainability program coordinator for her office and that she appreciated ESSR’s sustainability initiatives.
“Sustainability is an important thing for the University of Maryland, and I’m glad that we have the farmer’s market and these sort of plant swaps.”
Featured Image: University of Maryland staff talk to one another and look at plants during the plant propagation swap. The event occurred at the Tawes Plaza farmer’s market on April 8, 2026. Photo by Paige Trendell.