Gathering to get green

GreenSpace is a sustainability hub working to build a strong community of students interested and involved in sustainability on campus. It is part of an ongoing effort by Portland State students to improve sustainability initiatives.

Opened at the end of May, GreenSpace is an office for sustainability-related student groups such as the Environmental Club, Permaculture Guild, PSU Bicycle Advocacy Collective and Students for Leadership in Ecology, Culture and Learning (SLECL).

GreenSpace is located in the basement of Smith Memorial Student Union building, next to Food for Thought Café. Their office hours are between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Friday.

It is a shared community space that is open to any student working on sustainability.

“Creating positive change can happen much more effectively though if we have shared spaces that build community and promote collaboration,” said Lisa Meersman, Portland State Environmental Club coordinator.
“This is what the GreenSpace strives to be. With a central hub for sustainability, we can accomplish amazing things.”

Portland State students are in the middle of a huge campaign supporting a new Green Revolving Loan Fund, and they have joined three other institutions—University of Montana, University of Idaho and Whitman College—under the aegis of the Northwest SEED Green Campus Program to increase green efforts on campus.

“Portland State is currently the largest institution in Oregon, meaning that our actions have a significant impact on the community,” Meersman said. “With this power in numbers, we have the potential to be leading role models in making positive action toward social and environmental change.”

Transportation, renewable energy, conservation, efficiency and green building are the core areas of the sustainability campaigns. GreenSpace will serve as a common area for sustainability groups on campus.

To augment the efforts of the student action groups aimed at increasing and improving sustainability on campus, the Student Senate created GreenSpace with the objective of “applying for a shared student space for sustainability.”

GreenSpace was announced on May 29 in an event organized by more than 100 staff, students and faculty members to celebrate the success of sustainability efforts during recent years at Portland State. The event acknowledged improvements, such as increased bicycling and the replacement of leaky taps in SMSU, and several initiatives were announced for this year.

The Student Sustainability Council has weekly forums to create a collective student voice on campus. The new sustainability hub will improve interaction not only between students but also between staff and students and help with an exchange of viewpoints.

“Because PSU is so large, it is difficult sometimes to stay connected and updated on what projects and events are taking place,” Meersman said. “This space will improve communication and promote collaboration between sustainability-related student groups.”

She also added that, “it is a space where any student can go to get a better understanding of both local and global sustainability-related issues.”

GreenSpace also coordinates events.

“We have a calendar of events, as well as updates of upcoming club meetings that anyone is welcome to attend,” Meersman said. “All events are hosted in different places—that’s why people need to come down to the GreenSpace to find out more!”

Coming soon will be a weekly poll or trivia question that students can contribute to.

Once every two weeks, GreenSpace sets a target related to changing habits in order to be more sustainable. This week their goal is to unplug appliances, particularly cell phone chargers, when they are not in use.

“We have a growing library of books, movies and magazines for students to either check out, or else look over while they are visiting the space and anyone can make a contribution to our library,” Meersman said. “It’s fairly small, but as I said, we are trying to increase its size.”

Students who don’t have a reusable container for coffee or tea already may purchase a carabineer mug with the Environmental Club’s logo on them for $10.