A friendly community green team activist group stands up for going green-awareness on and off campus.
The committee, made up of students, faculty and staff, met on Sunday, Oct. 9 to reflect on nature and the duty to care for God’s creation and protect the poor and vulnerable.
The prayer walk took place behind Iadarola Center on campus. The trail was a 10-minute walk through nature reflecting on the sounds, sights and feelings of nature.
Samantha Ysais, sophomore English and secondary education major and co-chair of the Green Team, was among the 11 group members who walked along the trail.
“I am a big activist of environmental awareness and how it directly affects everyone,” Ysais said.
Jake Gaspari, sophomore undecided, first became involved when his sister showed an interest in going green. Gaspari said his goal is to help reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.
“It feels good to be an activist at the college,” Gaspari said. “It’s taking small steps that will ultimately make the big change.”
Gaspari has been a member of the Green Team for the past year.
“The Green Team wants to promote awareness of global warming, as well as promote awareness of locally grown produce,” Gaspari said.
After the nature walk, the committee met in Grace Hall to further discuss care for nature and the duty as Catholics to protect the poor and vulnerable.
The discussion was lead by Dr. Carrie Nielsen, chairman of the Green Team. Nielsen discussed how the Cabrini community could take small steps for a greener campus.
One small step is eating local produce. A few members of the Green Team community picked local apples to share and eat with the committee.
Nielsen asked the members to eat the apples mindlessly.
“What do you notice about this apple that you would not have noticed before?” Nielsen asked the committee members.
Many of the members noticed the different smell and taste of the apple. Looking at the bigger picture, if everyone was as mindless to nature as they were to the apples, Nielson made a point, that Mother Nature could be cared for just as mindlessly.
On campus, the Green Team made an effort to create awareness of the St. Francis Pledge to care for creation and the poor. Students and faculty members of the community signed a pledge to pray, learn, assess, act and advocate for God’s creation.
“Cabrini should be more green,” Alyssa Grenyer, sophomore elementary education major, said. “I am using recycled Post-It notes and taking shorter showers.”
Grenyer is among the many Cabrini students who are beginning to advocate for a greener community.
Amy Amadio, sophomore education major, is all for going green. “I hope to see Cabrini go green in more ways than one,” Amadio said. “I’m big on using recycled pens.”
Amanda DiDomenico, sophomore elementary and special education major, was another student who stopped by to sign the pledge.
“It feels important to go green,” DiDomenico said. “I recycle all the time.”
