Environmental Club to host eco-friendly activities

Although the Environment Club at Emporia State has only been active for just over a year, the group has already begun making changes on campus to create a more environmentally-friendly atmosphere. Although this is not the first Environment Club that ESU has seen, its leaders hope that it will be the first with real staying power.

“We’ve had clubs before,” said Harrison George, secretary and sophomore sociology major. “They’ve stayed around for a while, and then had no members left because they graduated. We want this one to stay around.”

The club has made its presence known through the addition of 12 office paper recycling containers throughout campus. The paper is collected by a student employee of the physical plant and recycled, cutting back on the university’s consumer waste.

Chris Janssen, club president and senior environmental biology major, started the club one year ago in February.

“I started this with Brad and Harrison one year ago,” Janssen said. “We’ve tried to recruit a lot of members.”

One of the club’s upcoming events is the panel on Kansas Energy, which will be hosted on April 22 in the Memorial Union. Speakers include panelists from Westar Energy, Sierra Club and most notably, the Kansas governor’s office. Kansas lieutenant governor Mark Parkinson will attend the event as a panelist.

“The focus of the panel is to give an idea of the current energy situation in Kansas,” Janssen said. “We want to discuss the current status, where our energy comes from and the future of Kansas energy. The panel will allow attendees to pose questions to specific panelists.

The panel is part of a series of activities to increase awareness of global environmental issues. The week of April 21 through 25 has been set aside by the club to increase awareness on campus with events such as a picnic, campus wide cleanup and screening of the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car?”

“We’ve spent a long, long time getting the week’s events ready,” George said. “It’s going very well, and we’re excited for it.”

Although the club is dedicated to tackling serious environmental issues, its members maintain a lot of camaraderie outside of the club.

“We do more than just events,” Janssen said. “We try to get out and have fun, experiencing the environment firsthand.”

Secretary George agrees with the club’s holistic approach to the issues.

“It’s definitely the highlight of my college career,” George said.

Brad Johnson, vice president and senior social sciences major, added that the group has had some experiences with notable global issues advocates.

“We’ve seen Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Al Gore speak,” Johnson said.

The club will also host a booth in the Memorial Union next week, encouraging students to drop off electronic items for disposal. The club will then pass them along to the city of Emporia to be routed to the appropriate recycling facilities.

Janssen also urged students to join the club as they pick up trash in the campus woods at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

“All are welcome and even encouraged to come,” he said. “We can really use the help.”