Mediaboss Marketing

By: Chelsea Malacara, Sustainability Education & Outreach Coordinator

Since the end of last semester, the Winter Solstice has passed and a new decade has begun.

This time of year sparks a time when many of us are looking forward to new possibilities,reassessing our past, and setting new goals. Every spring semester, the Office of Sustainabilitystaff and Eco-Reps commit to a new sustainability goal for the spring semester. For some, it isas small as cutting out meat once a week, for others it is as large as managing their timedifferently so they can catch the bus or carpool instead of driving. At our weekly meetings wecheck in with each other asking questions like what are the challenges, what have been thebenefits, can you encourage others to do the same and how? As the Sustainability Education &Outreach Coordinator at USM, I sometimes struggle with this effort. The things I could dodifferently sometimes insurmountable yet, I have to remind myself, as I want to remind you thateven the smallest, seemingly insignificant changes, add up and make a big impact.

So what am I committed to doing this year?

This year I have two changes Id like to make that stem from a belief in social equity andcommitment to reducing environmental impact. The first is to buy less from Amazon. I believe infair wages and a healthy work environment, two areas in which Amazon need someimprovement. The second is the environmental impact that buying online has. Often times youritems dont come together in one shipment, there is a lot of unnecessary packaging, and I havebeen known to make multiple orders in one week. Definitely room for improvement.

Secondly, I am committed to only buy clothes second hand, allowing myself three exceptionsthroughout the year. While I have always been big on thrifting for clothes I wear outside theoffice, finding professional wear for work that is in good condition was a challenge last year.

However, I am determined to find the right places and put in the extra effort to source all of myclothes second hand. According to the UN Environment Program, the fashion industry isresponsible for 10% of carbon emissions in addition to several other environmental impacts tothe worlds bodies of water from microplastics and pollution.This semester, the Office of Sustainability would like to challenge you to commit to a sustainablehabit. The Office already has a few resources and programs to get you started.

The Free Store on the Gorham Campus will be open a couple of times a weekand has everything from clothes to school supplies all for free Eco-Reps will be launching a community-based social marketing campaign tosupport the reintroduction of Sodexos Greenwave containers to reducesingle-use plates for food

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Committing to sustainability, one habit at a time - The - The Free Press of the University of Southern Maine