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How One Student is Changing the Georgia Southern Greek Community

A member of Sigma Chi fraternity uses summer experience as an inspiration to create a program that is changing the face of Georgia Southern Greek Life.  

STATESBORO, GAWhile interning in Bozeman Montana, Chris Kimbrell, Interfraternity Council Vice President of Judicial Affairs, immediately noticed something incredible he had never witnessed before: everyone recycled in some way. When he came back to Georgia Southern for school, it didn’t take very long for him to find a similar need in the Greek community and set out to address it.

“Soon after returning to Statesboro I attended a social event. The next morning I was looking at the mass quantities of trash left over from the party. It was then that I realized that nearly all of this trash was recyclable in some form. I knew that this was a chance to operate at a larger scale, and a chance to affect a large community,” said Kimbrell.

Through partnering with the Center for Sustainability, Kimbrell kicked off The Greeks Go Green program at the beginning of the 2015 Georgia Southern football season. The Center for Sustainability provides 11 Greek letter organizations with large recycling bins for their fraternity house at no cost. After each football tailgate, Kimbrell goes to the houses, picks up the recycled material and weighs them. The fraternity that collects the most (by weight) is reimbursed up to $200 for their tailgate security costs by the Interfraternity Council. Additionally, the chapter that collects the greatest combined weight by the end of the year will receive $500 towards the philanthropy of their choosing and win the Sustainable Chapter of the Year trophy, displayed in the Greek Life office.

“The Greek leadership is taking an important step with the establishment of Greeks Go Green on the Georgia Southern campus. By incorporating Sustainability principles into the mission and activities of the Greek system, fraternities and sororities will help to plant the seed for a lifelong commitment to Sustainability. This will reap great benefits well beyond the boundaries of Georgia Southern as these students carry Sustainability awareness with them and take on leadership roles in the world,” said Lissa Leege, the Director of the Center for Sustainability.

Today, Kimbrell has collected more than 160 pounds of recyclable material and hopes to expand the program to more Greek organizations in the future. His desire to foster an attitude toward environmental stewardship produced an effective and applicable method to address harmful waste management on campuses across the country.

For more information, visit: http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/sustainability/recycle-on-campus/tailgate-recycling-program/

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Posted in Community, IFC