Campus sustainability is a team effort. The Office of Sustainability is just one of many groups doing the hard work around campus. If you’re interested in getting involved but don’t know how, these committees and student organizations are a great place to start.
For more information on environmentally focused students groups on campus, visit Vol-Link, and look up organizations in the “Environmental Category”
Committees
The mission of the Committee on the Campus Environment is to promote environmental sustainability at UT, including but not limited to promoting reductions in the University’s carbon emissions, other pollutants, waste, and the consumption of resources.
Contact sustainability@utk.edu for more information.
The Student Environmental Initiatives Committee meets on a monthly basis to discuss the most productive uses of Green Fee resources for both recurrent and one-time projects. Green Fee meetings are open to everyone.
For queries about the committee and its meetings, contact sustainability@utk.edu for more information, or visit the Green Fee page.
The Environment & Sustainability Committee strives to keep the university’s campus clean and green. We achieve this goal through our Campus Cleanup each semester, our Pick Up Your Butts event in the spring, and other events throughout the year.
The mission of the Bicycle Advisory Committee is to increase cycling infrastructure and accessibility at UTK. This is done through work with the League of American Bicyclists, a national organization that works with universities to promote and provide a more bikeable campus for students, staff, and faculty.
Contact awhitak8@utk.edu for more information.
Student Organizations
SPEAK is a group of students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who concern themselves with and seek to remedy environmental problems on campus, locally, regionally, and even worldwide.
Compost Coalition is a student organization created with the goal of increasing compost education and resources at UT.
Plastic Free UT is a student-led campaign striving to reduce single use plastic usage on campus.
The Environmental Law Organization seeks to connect its members to each other and the broader environmental law community, inform them of the environmental law and policy issues they are likely to encounter during their careers, and empower them to confront those issues thoughtfully and practically.
Contact mlemon2@vols.utk.edu for more information.
The Food Recovery Network is a national organization that unites students at colleges and universities to fight food waste and hunger by recovering surplus perishable food from their campuses and surrounding communities that would otherwise go to waste and donating it to people in need.
Events they are known for include recovering from POD markets, football games, and other campus events.
FRN volunteers meet every second Saturday of each month, as well as after food events. For more information contact frn@utk.edu
Hydrolunteers is a water and environment focused organization aiming to bring together students with a variety of backgrounds to network and collaborate with one another. The goal of this group is to create a platform for community involvement. They are known for river clean up events.
Find Hydrolunteers on Instagram.