The Sustainability Advocates Program offers staff and faculty the opportunity to take a leadership role in the collective effort to create a healthy and sustainable campus community. Advocates are each partnered with a student Green Advisor for the academic year; together they work to implement sustainability projects within the Advocate's department. The Sustainability Advocates Program supports the College's commitment to achieve a range of sustainability targets and to engage and educate all community members about sustainability topics.
2023-2024 Sustainability Advocates
Adam Glas (Grounds), Annette Senesi (Admissions), Ashley Nethanal (Student Health & Wellness), Carina Yervasi (Office of Global Engagement), Christopher Proctor (Environmental Services), Clare Hyre (Office of Sustainability), Dana Santure and Sue Brennan (Advancement), Dave Geary (Nether Providence Township Environmental Action Committee) and Anthony Coschignano (Campus Services) , David Urbany and Robert Hirsh (Swarthmore Campus and Community Store), Jennifer Pfluger (Environmental Studies & Swarthmore Township Environmental Action Committee), Kathryn Melvin (International Student Center), Sandra Lopez Cortez (Grounds)
Project Highlights
Reusable Packaging
Led by Anthony Condo (OneCard) & Susannah Broun ’22
This collaboration operates with the goal of diverting waste from the incinerator through the creation of a reusable packaging system. The system allows for the directing of packaging material (cardboard, bubble wrap, styrofoam, packing envelopes, etc) to collection centers where they can find a second life with students/staff/faculty who pick up the materials placed there. This project, done in collaboration with the Post Office, takes a considerable amount of material out of the waste stream and instead creates accessible products for practical reuse.
Led by Esther Wieman (Advancement) & Jacob Clark '21
Esther and Jacob worked extensively to bring sustainability into the minds of alumni and families during campus events, especially during Garnet Weekend & Alumni Weekend. Along with setting up compost stations at nearly all events during these weekends, they had tables set up with information about sustainability initiatives at the College and information for alumni to get involved with.
Zero Waste at the Inn
Led by Chip Proctor (EVS) & Marianne Lotter-Jones '19
With the understanding that the Inn at Swarthmore is also a part of our community, Chip and Marianne worked to introduce Zero Waste practices at the Inn and initiated composting there. They led trainings for staff at the Inn, and worked with EVS so that the compostable waste from the Inn goes into the campus waste stream.
Inclusive Sustainability at the IC
Led by Nyk Robertson (IC/WRC) & Tiffany Wang '21
Nyk and Tiffany worked to bring in more sustainable resources for the Intercultural Center. Not only did they add new waste stations to the Old IC Big Room and create a stock of compostable wares for IC student groups to use, they also opened up many discussions on understanding the climate crisis and led talks on environmental justice.
Sustainable Purchasing Database
Led by Roy Greim '14 (Communications) & Chelsea Semper '21
Purchasing compostable wares can be difficult when they are often pricier than plastic wares, and hard to find through different suppliers, so Roy and Chelsea spent the year streamlining this process. They created a comprehensive list on alternative compostable wares, including pricing and suppliers to make purchasing a simple process for departments. Stay tuned as we prepare to share the list publicly!
Sustainable Eating
Led by Stacey Hogge (Sociology/Anthropology) & Rebecca Zhou '19
Stacey and Rebecca began a program called Veggie Tuesday, in which they sent out emails to the Soc/Anth department with weekly vegetarian/vegan recipes, articles and links that promoted sustainable shopping, food waste reduction, healthy cooking practices, etc. While this started as just something that Stacey and Rebecca sent out, more department members started also participating, creating more conversations around sustainability in their department.
Swarthmore Walks and Trails Project
Swarthmore and the surrounding communities offer a wealth of opportunities to get out of the house and explore the Borough and the great outdoors. Tara Cannon '20 and Sustainability Advocate partners from the Swarthmore Senior Citizens Association mapped about 20 different trails and walks that you can take!
