Student Spotlight: Maggie

Post date: Jul 05, 2013 7:43:31 PM

What prompted you to take it?

I wanted to see what it said and what criteria it had because I worked for Ecolympics in past years and have done A LOT of thinking about how people could be green and how to make Oberlin sustainable on an individual level. Also, I live in Old B. It’s really small, so I wanted to see if other members of the co-op would do it too as a type of house bonding. I also wanted to remind myself of anything I may have forgotten to do in the past few months.

Have a lot of people in Old B. certified? Do you feel you had an impact in the house?

A few did because I told them to. I thought it would be awesome if we all did it. However, only 4 people certified. 4 out of 14 isn’t so bad; at least it is a beginning!

How did the questions compare to what you had worked on previously during Ecolympics?

They were good. I had already thought about a lot of the criteria before. I remember taking it and thinking nothing was missing. However, I want to emphasize that these are very small (but necessary) choices. I would like to look for a way to encourage people to make bigger change.

Why is sustainability important to you?

It has a lot to do with equity. I am an Environmental Studies major because our choices here in the U.S. have a lot of impact on peoples’ lives across sea. I think it is important to be conscious of that impact and to work to make it positive rather than negative. I am also concerned about climate change and don’t want the world to fall apart. Mainly it stems from a deep desire to protect people and the planet.

Do you feel the program is a good way to increase sustainability on campus?

I think it is, at least on a small scale. I really appreciate that you can post a sign on your door that shows you are committed to something. I am involved in a lot of the sustainability groups and initiatives on campus already. I think it is really helpful for those who aren’t involved to have a reminder like the sign.

Do you have any thoughts on what would be a good way to increase sustainability on campus? Bigger things that people could do?

In general, getting people more involved in environmental events would, in my mind, almost more successful than changing small behaviors. In thinking specifically about Ecolympics, I think it is important to have a green survey go out because it gives concrete ideas about how to increase sustainability. I think it is a super useful tool on an individual scale, however I would like to find ways to incentivize people to go to more events throughout the semester.

What are your past actions and what are you planning to do in the future?

I did outdoors work in high school which jump-started my environmental activism and work. A bio teacher led the ecology club at my school and we did restoration clearing invasive species and learning how to manage prairies by doing brush fires. I also worked in an aquarium in Chicago. I learned a lot there about marine biology. I also took intensive classes in ecology and marine bio. Most of those clubs and the education programs focused on climate change, sustainability, and behavior change. That is how I got involved in environmental work. Here at Oberlin I am involved in various environmental groups and have been involved in Ecolympics since freshman year. This year I have been focusing on privilege in environmentalism. I am currently working to change the Environmental Studies department/program to involve privilege, anti-oppression, and inclusivity into the curriculum.

Is there anything else you want to add and anything you want to see happen in the future?

I would like to see OES doing more to make stronger coalitions. I know there are efforts with green teas, and I really hope that it takes off. A lot of events that happen on campus interfere with each other, especially with the environmental groups on campus. I would love for these events to be organized better, to create more dialogue. I would also like to encourage everyone to go further, read different articles, make people more aware, and increase activism on campus. I also think privilege needs to be talked about more in the environmental scene on campus. I think we need think tanks. We need to brainstorm different ways to make the environmental movement inside of Oberlin more inclusive and not as intimidating and scary to people who aren’t passionate about environmental stuff. I know we tend to come off as a bunch of hippie activists who aren’t approachable.