As the impending threat of climate change closes in on humanity, activists, intellectuals and global citizens rise up to create environmentally friendly solutions.
Junior environmental engineering major Seth Moore is creating systemic and sustainable change at Kennesaw State.
“[I work] a lot with the Hornet Village recycling program,” Moore said. “It’s a program I started two years ago. We collect recycling for three of the [Marietta] on-campus housing buildings. We started putting up bins and we bring them across campus to put it with [the other] recycling. It’s grown a lot. Since October we’ve collected about 4,765 gallons of mixed recyclables.”
Moore is a green ambassador of a program started by alumni. Green ambassadors promote sustainability initiatives through the university and go to classrooms to give presentations and gauge public opinion.
“[The] general opinion is hopeful,” Moore said of KSU on sustainability. “I’d say we’re pretty close to the middle of the pack. There’s [a lot] we are doing [that] people don’t know about — lots of sustainability behind the scenes. There’s a lot of small initiatives going around ready to be expanded.”
Moore pointed to Owl Swap, a student-organized sustainable clothing drive, and the reusing and recycling efforts of those working in the CARE Center’s student food pantries. He also noted the new reverse vending machine located in the student center on the Kennesaw campus. The machine takes bottles and cans and donates money to Children’s Miracle Dance Network and Children’s Miracle Hospitals.
The Commons collects compost with Hickory Grove Farm, More said, pointing out that this is not the case with the Stinger’s dining hall on the Marietta campus. Moore said that, likely due to distance, the Marietta campus sees fewer sustainability initiatives than the Kennesaw campus.
Moore is also a student member on the Presidential Commission of Sustainability where he meets with faculty and staff to give his opinion on happenings at KSU and to help coordinate programs.
“I started this by filling out the green ambassador application from my student email,” Moore said. “That’s how I got down the rabbit hole. I work as an RA, which is how I’ve been so involved with Housing and Resident Life. Every single resident in Marietta, for the most part, knows they can recycle now. That was unheard of before. I’m trying to gather numbers to propose them to institutionalize recycling.”
Moore believes in tackling sustainability with an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach. He said that there are endless ways to get involved in sustainability and that he believes it has a place in every field, but that many people just are not aware of how to take the first steps.
“We can be involved in sustainability in so many ways,” Moore said. “[RA] events can be focused on resident education and sustainability. Even if it’s posters on the wall informing residents to make sure there isn’t contamination.”
Looking to the future, Moore discussed his goals and aspirations, as well as the current work he is doing to achieve those goals.
“Ideally, I’d love to look more broadly at social and environmental justice,” Moore said. “I’ve been looking into environmental nonprofits in the Atlanta area. Recently, I’ve been working with the Chattahoochee RiverKeeper, an environmental watchdog group that protects the Chattahoochee River. They pick up trash and watch over businesses [and] test over 100 sites around Atlanta weekly to find sewage spills.”
For information on sustainability initiatives at KSU, visit sustainability.kennesaw.edu.
