In Jamrich on Tuesday April 21, NMU WellBeing hosted a Toolkit Tuesday on environmental awareness and sustainable living. WellBeing highlighted Marquette’s “4Rs:” reuse, reduce, recycle and rethink, as a way to promote both environmental well-being and personal self-care.
“We’re collaborating with SHINE to learn about environmental well-being and self-care, and how those two things can tie into one another,” Liz Brown, a present Peer Educator for NMU WellBeing, said.
The event also aimed to make sustainability feel less overwhelming for students. Brown encouraged attendees to reflect on their everyday habits and environmental impact.
“You can think about ways in which you personally recycle and what your impact is on the planet—like what you do with your trash, what you do with food scraps, where you make your purchases, and things like that,” Brown said. “Not thinking about environmental responsibility as a really harsh thing helps rethink that and have a better attitude towards it.”
Story continues below advertisement
Brown explained other campus groups and resources that could help further educate students on sustainability.
“There’s EcoReps on campus, SHINE, the Hoop House and there’s a Lincoln Community Garden,” Brown said. “There are a lot of different organizations on campus that try to educate students on the different things that they can do personally.”
Brown also highlighted the importance of mindful consumption and reducing unnecessary purchases.
“We try to tell people to think about what they actually need versus what they want,” Brown said. “If you can buy something secondhand, use swap bins on campus, or reach out to buy-nothing groups, you can see if someone else has something you’re looking for so you don’t have to go buy it.”
The event left students feeling empowered to consider how they can reduce their environmental impact in their everyday lives.
