Texas A&M has strived to improve its sustainability efforts since creating the Office of Sustainability in March 2008. Student organizations centered around environmental issues are fighting to continue advancements.
A&M tracks sustainability using the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System, referred to as STARS. The system rates colleges based on percentage of points earned in categories of Academics, Engagement, Operation, and Planning and Administration. In the most recent STARS assessment, A&M was awarded the STARS Gold rating for achieving a score of 67.06, an improvement from the previous STARS Silver rating.
Doctorate student of environmental health Kamrie Sarnosky serves as president for the Environmental Sustainability Group. Sarnosky said the purpose of her organization is to educate both students and the surrounding community on environmental issues.
Among other initiatives including pollination promotion and featuring different sustainability issues each month, Sarnosky said their goal is to help implement a recycling program for baseball game days.
“In the past, A&M has had big impacts with the SEC sports recycling challenge, but this year we didn’t even participate,” Sarnosky said. “So we’re hoping to get something like that started for baseball season, where we can recycle all the cans that are being used.”
Sarnosky said that even small-scale eliminations of waste can make important differences in how we impact the environment. Using reusable bags, riding a bike instead of driving, and properly disposing of electronic waste are helpful practices, according to Sarnosky.
“It’s important that we have the knowledge of what’s going on with all the products we’re using,” Sarnosky said. “Once we go into our full-time jobs, we’ll have the knowledge to be able to implement sustainable practices in whatever industry or company we’re working for.”
Aggie Replant originally started as a way to make bonfire a sustainable tradition, by replanting the trees that were cut down and used. Savannah Killion, bioenvironmental sciences senior and development executive for Aggie Replant said that while bonfire isn’t on campus anymore, Aggie Replant remains a student tradition and revolves around sustainability.
“It’s now focused around environmental sustainability, primarily locally,” Killion said. “We have the largest one-day, student led environmental service project in the nation, which is replant day.”
Killion said that the organization has expanded since then, seeking opportunities within the BCS area, and in other areas of Texas. Aggie Replant founded the Lost Pines Recovery Campaign, when Bastrop State Park suffered massive losses from forest fires. Killion said that in light of recent natural destruction, sustainability is something everyone should be working towards.
“We all live on the earth, so we all need a clean, healthy environment,” Killion said. “I think that really unites a lot of different people together. We’re fortunate to be a diverse organization, because the environment draws in people from all different backgrounds.”
The Environmental Issues Committee is structured around education, initiative, and commitment to providing environmental programs locally. Hailey Lavigne, civil engineering senior and committee chair said that these programs have included things like teaching elementary school children about gardening, to putting on an electronic waste drive.
“If we’re going to be fearless on every front, I think it directly relates to environmental health and protection,” Lavigne said. “To be responsible, and to be the leading competitor in every field, there’s no better way to show that we’re the best than to provide for the environment.”
Sarnosky said every member of the student body can have a critical role in maintaining and progressing sustainability.
“The sustainability of our environment begins with us,” Sarnosky said. “It’s interdisciplinary- it should be engineers, and public health, and nurses, and veterinarians, and mathematicians, because it takes all of us to figure out ways to save our planet.”