The Group for Resilient Environmental Engagement and Networking (GREEN), a new student organization, is dedicated to building community on campus around a shared passion for sustainability.
Ithaca College is home to many sustainability groups and initiatives, including Eco Reps, Nature Rx and clubs like the Outing Club and Nature Club. As an umbrella organization, the GREEN Team will meet monthly to consolidate all these initiatives in one place and build a coalition around their various projects.
The group held its inaugural meeting Jan. 29. Scott Doyle, director of energy management and sustainability, said he began planning for the launch of the new sustainability group in Fall 2025 in collaboration with Jeremy Sauer, IC’s AmeriCorps VISTA sustainability coordinator.
Sauer is an IC affiliate, serving a one-year service term through AmeriCorps, a national program aimed at alleviating poverty and supporting non-profits or other institutions. Sauer said the inspiration for the aptly named GREEN Team came from programming at his alma mater SUNY Geneseo, but also an interest from the IC student body.
“We go to classes pretty frequently and we always hear students with either ideas or without ideas who want to be involved in the work that we’re doing,” Sauer said. “Finding ways to empower them to actually participate in the work, in whatever way they’re able to bring, is really important.”
Doyle said through the GREEN Team he hopes to build a larger coalition of all the different groups on campus working toward sustainability goals.
“I’ve met a lot of students across the different disciplines and schools that are very interested in sustainability as a topic, but have maybe trouble figuring out how to get engaged or connect with or get support for projects,” Doyle said. “The idea is really getting to know more people working on these efforts and support them.”
Sauer said the collaborative nature of the GREEN Team will help increase capacity and efficiency and simulate the way projects are tackled in real–world workspaces.
“I think a lot of students come in with great ideas, and sometimes those ideas overlap with projects that are already happening that they might not have heard about,” Sauer said. “If you can come to a set place every month and bring your ideas, hear about what’s already happening, and then maybe start working together.”
In addition to connecting on-campus champions for sustainability, the group also aims to bring in guests from the wider Ithaca community to discuss sustainability initiatives around town. At the Jan. 29 meeting, Jeremy Betterley from Tompkins County Recycling and Materials Management discussed the agency’s composting and food scrap collection programming. Group participants then engaged in a Q&A in which they thought about ways on-campus composting efforts could be improved based on what they learned from Betterley’s presentation.
Doyle said he hopes the format of the meetings will allow people with similar interests in advancing sustainability to build new connections and learn from each other.
“I think it’s really important to not lose more time,” Doyle said. “We certainly need to take action on a lot of these different sustainability topics on campus and in the community.”
After Betterley’s presentation, different group members shared ideas they had and initiatives they were working on. One member suggested that compost bins should be more available around campus and in academic buildings. Another, shared the work of Nature Rx, a campus group working to educate the community on the healing powers of nature. Doyle also shared that his team was working to plan Sustainability Week, taking place April 16-25, and encouraged members of the GREEN Team to think about how they might want to get involved with this year’s festivities.
Members of Eco Reps highlighted efforts they are seeking volunteers for, including packaging food donations in the dining halls and organizing the Take it or Leave it warehouse. Eco Reps are a small team of student employees of the Office of Energy Management and Sustainability who work to educate the campus community on a variety of sustainability topics.
Senior Lauren Sturm, an Eco Rep, said they are excited about the opportunities the GREEN Team will offer Eco Reps to engage with more members of the IC community and to solicit feedback.
“What we’re always really looking for is new ways to advocate for sustainability and affordability on campus,” Sturm said. “Ultimately six people is just six people and if you open it up to a room of 15 or 20, then that’s so many more ideas and so many more perspectives, and that is something that is really important to us.”
Doyle said one of the motivations for the launch of the GREEN Team was the interest from students on campus in other sustainability groups such as Eco Reps. Doyle said that when Eco Reps sends out a call for applicants, they consistently receive more applications than the team can take on.
“There’s a lot of interest in doing the work,” Doyle said. “We want more space for people to be able to feel like they’re doing things they want to do, and are supported in doing that.”
Doyle and Sauer said they are committed to testing out the GREEN Team model monthly for the Spring 2026 semester, but are leaving space for the group to evolve as members of the coalition bring new ideas and concerns. They encourage anyone with an interest in sustainability to pop by the 11:50 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. meetings the final Thursday of each month.
“You don’t need to be an expert in this field. You could just have an idea or want to be involved with something,” Doyle said. “If nothing else, hopefully it prepares us all more for our engagement as citizens.”
