By: Isabella Brand & Madison Bonner
Photography collected by Isabella and Madison
Green Team held their first trash pickup of the fall semester on September 25th. Members paired up to walk around campus, gathering food wrappers, broken glass, cigarette butts, and more. Specific spots they went to include the dorms, the road to McKendree West, and behind Ames. Sociology professors Neil Quisenberry and Robyn Swink, and political science professor Ann Collins helped with the cleanup as well as members of the Environmental and Sustainability Committee.
In an interview, President Emily Schildknecht stated that Green Team’s motto is, “Make McKendree a greener place.” And the club has been doing just that, ever since its start in 2022. Emily is currently a sophomore studying Business Administration. She is the President of the Green Team and the President of Kappa Sigma Tau (KΣT), a local sorority at McKendree.
A New Start: Emily started Green Team last October as a freshman along with her friends, who became her fellow officers. These officers include Vice President Sydney (Syd) Walter, Secretary Mallory (Mal) Snow, and Treasurer Camryn (Cami) Walter.
After discovering the club had previously disbanded, they were able to revive it with the help of business professor Jean Sampson and English professor Brenda Boudreau. Once flyers were made, the club was back in business.
Past club projects include painting birdhouses, creating a pollinator garden, and selling flowers for Valentine’s Day. They held a Sips ’n Succulents party with the Inter-Greek Council that included drinking tea or soda while painting pots and planting succulents. Psychology Club helped with the Make Your Mark project, which included cleaning rooms on campus as well as picking up trash outside in celebration of Earth Day. Guest speakers from the Lebanon Garden Club visited to speak about plants and flowers that are native to the area and ones that would thrive here. Have you used a to-go container lately?
Green Team paired up with the Student Government Association to reduce waste on campus. Together they came up with the green reusable food containers we see today at Ames and 1828 Café: OZZI. Instead of wasting a Styrofoam container after one use, you can reuse the OZZI containers. The containers in the machine are washed and ready for you the next time you need one.
Green Team has also partnered with the Environmental and Sustainability Committee. Emily attends their meetings as a student representative and discusses ways to improve life on campus. Members of the Environmental Society attend Green Team meetings to help with their projects as well. When asked why students should consider joining the Green Team, Emily said that a lot of people on the Green Team are really nice and the atmosphere is comfortable and relaxed, so “meetings kind of just feel like hanging out.”
Future Plans: The Green Team is planning on cleaning up the greenhouse, beautifying the campus by planting more flowers, and cleaning flower beds. They are open to suggestions about future events. If you would like to join Green Team, you can send a message to their Instagram (@mck_greenteam), email Emily using her McKendree email, or come to the next meeting that is scheduled for October 9th, 2023, in the Academic Learning Center located on the far end of New Residence Hall West.
