Sustainability Hut Works To Promote Eco-Friendly Lifestyles

Every Tuesday and Wednesday, a small booth makes a big impact on the University of Florida campus as it reaches out to students to make strides in campus sustainability.

The Sustainability Hut is a booth that is staffed by volunteers and interns that works to teach people around campus about sustainable living practices. During the fall and spring semesters, it rotates to various locations on campus on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and is open from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. It can normally be found behind the Hub, in the Plaza of the Americas, or in Turlington Plaza.

http://sustainable.ufl.edu

The Sustainability Hut is an important part of creating a more sustainable campus because it helps encourage everyone to do his or her part to help the environment, according to Allison Vitt, the outreach and communications coordinator in the University of Florida Office of Sustainability.

“It’s another way you can do something small that is still making an impact,” Vitt said.

Interns and volunteers at the Sustainability Hut interact with people through conversation and games that teach about sustainable living. The activities vary from an exercise that teaches how to sort recyclables to a water game that raises awareness about the various water filling stations located around campus.

“Our long-term goal is to make UF as green as possible,” Vitt said.

Sophomore advertising major Jessica Mandel believes the Sustainability Hut makes an impact on campus because it helps stress environmental consciousness among students.

“It gives opportunities for students to learn of new ways to preserve and sustain our planet,” Mandel said.

A typical shift at the Sustainability Hut includes talking with visitors, asking questions to gauge what they know, and playing games and activities that revolve around sustainability, according to sophomore environmental science major Maegan Muir, who is an intern at the University of Florida Office of Sustainability.

Muir volunteered with the Sustainability Hut for two semesters before becoming an intern, and enjoys being able to work with others and spread information about sustainable living. After visiting the Hut, students sometimes sign up to volunteer there in the future, according to Muir.

“I like talking to people, and I like the opportunity to teach,” Muir said. “All kinds of different people come to the Hut.”

One of the goals of the Sustainability Hut is to give people one behavior they can adopt or change in order to live more sustainably, according to Muir.

“You’d be surprised how you could live more sustainably if you take the time to think about the effects of your actions,” Muir said. “Even if it’s not on the biggest scale, we are changing the way people think.”