Club of the Month:
The Environmental Club

In order to advocate social action the ASUI Center for Volunteerism and Social Action has decided to highlight a University of Idaho club that demonstrates its devotion to social activism or volunteerism each month. December's Club of the Month is the Environmental Club: Its consistent activisim is indicative of its members' dedication to protecting the environment.

By: Lissa Firor
         The goal of the University of Idaho Environmental Club is to raise environmental awareness and promote sustainability through action-oriented services, educational programs, and goal-oriented campaigns throughout campus and the local Moscow community.

The Environmental Club's most recent events have included volunteering at a local permaculture site for Make a Difference Day on October the 28th. It also hosted educational activities for National Recycling Day on November 15th. However, the biggest Environmental Club event of the year is by far, the presentation of Earth Week. Plans for Earth Week 2007 are already underway, and include an Art in Aluminum can creation contest. The band Whitewater Ramble, from Fort Collins, Colorado, will also perform a concert.

Another spring semester event includes the end of the year “Household
Goods Exchange.” The goods exchange is aimed at keeping reusable items out of

 
 the dumpsters when students started cleaning out their rooms for the summer. In past years the Environmental Club has set up a successful "junk exchange" near Wallace dumpsters during finals week. During these exchanges students have collected many things including area rugs, kitchen supplies, telephones, shoes, and many of clothing. Visitors to the exchange are free to drop of junk or collect treasures; the remaining items are donated to the International Friendship Association and Sojourner's Alliance. If you are interested in helping with a similar exchange in spring 2007, please contact us!

The Environmental Club is constantly growing in size, in enthusiasm, and in diversity. It has members majoring in everything from biology and environmental science to business or journalism. We are a group that believes that the best way to change the world is to get out there and start changing it yourself. All our members are encouraged to educate themselves, educate others, and get involved. One important way we do that is through our support for the work of local environmentally-conscious businesses and organizations, such as the Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute (PCEI), Friends of the Clearwater (FOC), the Moscow Food Co-Op, Protect Our Palouse, and others.

For more information about past and future projects or ways to volunteer, please visit our website: http://stuorgs.uidaho.edu/~envclub/