Do you know what I am doing this very second? I am kicked back, listening to good vibe music, sipping a frozen hot chocolate with drizzled chocolate on the top, enjoying an exquisite view of the city of Ithaca, and thinking to myself that I think I found my new hotspot on campus. I know you are probably wondering, “Where on campus could that possibly be!? Good vibe music AND an amazing view?” Well, my friends, say hello to the TC Lounge, Ithaca College’s newest, old addition to campus. I say “newest, old” because it is right in the spot of where the Towers Club Restaurant used to be, on the 14th floor of the East Tower.

After the Towers Club stopped getting the business is deserved (I mean the food was amazing), it seemed IC was eager to put something in this amazing space, something that was going to be used, something that students would love. Thus, the TC Lounge was born. Why am I talking about a lounge in an environmental oriented blog you may ask? Well, there are a few reasons. For one, this place is far to sweet to not share with the local community (and I also feel like this could become a bloggers hotspot). But then of course it could also be that located around the lounge are beautiful photographs of local venues in Ithaca. So while in one moment you can look out the windows onto the amazing landscape below, you in the next moment can see up close some snippets of the that wonderful community, like the Autumn Leaves used bookstore photo I am staring at right now.

But its more than just comfy chairs and an amazing view. Let us move to the food, shall we? Yes there is food, and we aren’t just talking coffee and packaged cookies. Wearetalkingchocolate truffles, chocolate dipped pretzels, eclairs, cheesecake, lava cake, muffins, moosecake, and who could forget to mention a fondue bar? Epic. And tasty. Then we get to the beverage bar, where not only are you served frozen hot chocolates (this drink is divine), but other specialty coffee drinks, Seattle’s Best coffee and loose-leaf teas. Who wouldn’t want that on a chilly Ithaca night like tonight. So again you ask, why the eco blog? This place has meaning. The college turned a space that they already had in amazing shape into something useful, no more wasted space on the 14th floor. It’s all about reuse.

The laughs and students of all majors and years bring a sense of community to this, what used to be, foreign space. One of the most intriguing aspects of sustainability, that is often overlooked, is community. If we are all to save our planet, we must first make connections with those we thought we had little in common with, and I see that here. This space is a communitybuilder. And since it is run by IC’s dining services, who have a serious interest to be sustainable in any aspect it can, the coffee and tea are all fair trade and organic, and they even feature chocolate bars by Theo. Take a look at the little bio at the front counter of the TC Lounge and you will see that Theo happens to be the only fair trade and organic chocolate factory in the U.S., and the chocolate is delicious.

Ok I will stop raving about this place, but if there is one thing I learned from coming here it’s this: sustainability has a lot of aspects and comes in so many different forms. They might be as obvious as an organic, fair trade chocolate bar staring you in the face, or as discrete as the creation of a community bonding spot. Either way it’s there. It’s just a matter of opening our eyes to it.

Cheers!