Monument meant to inspire students to reduce their impact on environment

The ETSU Sherrod Library and the Department of Sustainability team up to celebrate the “Do One Thing” sculpture installation at the Sherrod Library at 1 p.m. on Jan. 22 on the first floor of the library, next to Einstein’s.

“The sculpture is already up and represents the pledges that people are making to conserve and cut down on things such as energy, water, transportation, waste, consumerism and food,” said Kathleen Moore, director of sustainability at ETSU. “They put their pledges in a recycled bottle and it was added to the sculpture. We’re taking more pledges tomorrow.”

The monument is comprised of recycled bottles, each with a pledge from students, staff and faculty to reduce their impact on the environment.

Pledges were introduced in six different categories which varied from reducing the amount of electricity used to reducing the amount of meat consumed each week.

“We had some suggestions to do one simple thing and collectively they would all make a difference but they would also inspire them to think bigger,” Moore said. “They’re given a pin to remind them of their pledge. Each category has a different colored pin, and they can sign a pledge for each of the six categories if they wanted. If they send a picture of them doing their pledge, then we are giving out a reusable coffee mug to each of them.”

Students, staff and faculty are encouraged to come to the celebration. Free cupcakes to represent each of the six categories and 200 “Do One Thing” T-shirts will be handed out while supplies last. The Department of Sustainability has also worked on a number of other projects.

“We finally got the solar wall finished during the break, and we’re also going to be working on a bunch of green fee projects,” Moore said. “We also have a community garden they’re going to improve and also find new gardeners. We’re bringing a film festival, Wild Scenic Film Festival, to ETSU March 31 from 6-10 p.m. in the Culp Center where we’ll be showing our own films by students. They’re also having an Envirofair during the festival to discuss the environment.”