Go Green has been an on-and-off club at SUNY Oswego for years. It last made its appearance several years ago in an attempt to continue its mission to spread environmental awareness but was unable to gain enough support to get its feet off the ground, thus disappearing from campus.
However, this semester, there has been a new effort to revive the club and help educate the campus community on climate change and other environmental issues. SUNY Oswego students Valerie Goetz, Julianna Brophy, Nicole Rose, Miryam Makutonin and Rylee Lisieski, as well as the staff advisor Katherine Spector, banded together to revamp the Go Green club once again.
Director of Social Media Lisieski had the opportunity to participate in the club before its disappearance about three years ago and recounted what it was like back then.
“We would watch documentaries, we would make bags out of old shirts, we would upcycle things and we would talk about how we could be more sustainable,” Lisieski said. “We would go on trips to…a power plant near here that uses energy from trash.”
Brophy, the vice president, said they hope to revamp the club to help disprove growing myths about climate change.
“In a world like today, when climate change is so prominent and there’s still skepticism about it…we found we could unfreeze and use some of our ideas for Go Green,” Brophy said. “The best way to make sure people are talking about the environment and being sustainable is to revive a club like Go Green.”
Goetz, who currently serves as Go Green’s president, discussed the goals and aspirations of the club, saying it wants to create a platform for advocacy against climate change.
“Our goal in restarting Go Green was just to create an atmosphere and a community of like-minded people who want to do their part to help with our changing climate change issues and our environment by implementing sustainable practices, educating people in the campus community … to do the same as well,” Brohpy said.
Makutonin is very enthusiastic about ways that Go Green will continue once COVID-19 restrictions have been eased.
“I personally would like to go outside more,” Makutonin said. “We could go thrifting together or go out into nature together, just do fun things. We want to show what we’re talking about rather than just talk.”
The founders have also been brainstorming ways to have outdoor activities in ways that are socially distant and fall within campus guidelines.
People can get involved in a number of ways, according to Rose, who is the secretary.
“We have Earth Week, which is going to be April 16-22 in partnership with the Student Association,” Rose said. “We are also planning two lake clean ups.”
There will also be programs at 7 p.m. every Tuesday over Zoom, where the group will cover issues such as pollution, sustainability, climate change and a multitude of others. The club is especially excited to discuss climate change skepticism in its future meetings.
Go Green also utilizes social media to promote itself as a new club, using the Instagram handle @GoGreen.Oswego. The club has theme day posts such as Mother Earth Monday, Waste-free Wednesday and Fresh-food Friday.
The Oswegonian file photo from 2020
