Sustainable Greek Week at Missouri State University

Missouri State University has an outstanding commitment to sustainability and sustainable practices, but unfortunately some aspects of campus life have yet to catch up. Fraternity and Sorority Life, which makes up 18% of Missouri State University’s undergraduate students, is one of these offenders. Each year, Missouri State’s Fraternity and Sorority Life hosts a Greek Week, a friendly competition between social fraternity and sorority chapters on campus. The events of Greek Week are great in promoting community relations and inter-fraternal bonding, but, unfortunately, many of these events create an unnecessary amount of waste. This petition is directed to the Missouri State University Office of Student Engagement, in order to suggest that a change needs to be made to the Greek Week guidelines. We have listed a few suggestions below, but our goal is simply to be that Greek Week Committee changes the Greek Week guidelines to be overall more sustainable.

Some suggestions, as gathered from focus groups and interviews with various active Fraternity and Sorority Life members, are as follows:

-Eliminate Pomping Boards

-Set Restrictions on Amount of Supplies Used for Pomping Boards

-Eliminate Greek Jam Sets

-Set Restrictions on Amount of Supplies Used for Greek Jam Sets

-Set Limitations on Size and Amount of Greek Jam Sets

-Require All Leftover Supplies to be Donated to a Community Partner in Need or Recycled

-Use Recyclable or Reusable Plates and Cups at Greek Week Kickoff

-Establish a Recycling Competition

The Missouri State University Statement on Sustainability is as follows:
"Missouri State University is committed to environmental sustainability and stewardship. By working to create a cleaner environment through community service efforts, the application of earth-friendly technology and practices, research projects, and responsible development planning, we will strive to work for a better tomorrow. Through education and community outreach, we will provide students with the knowledge and skills to be environmentally responsible citizens and consider the global ramifications of their actions and the actions of others around them. To that end, Missouri State University is committed to continuous improvement in:

-Incorporation of environmentally responsible concerns in University decision making.

-Demonstration of institutional practices that promote sustainability, including energy savings measures, increasing the use of renewable resources, and decreasing production of waste materials.

-Providing educational programs and encouraging environmental inquiry for students and the community concerning positive environmental practices.

-Establishment of sustainability indicators to enable monitoring, reporting and improvement measures.

-Enhancing the health of campus ecosystems and increasing the diversity of native species whenever possible.

-Promotion of health, productivity and safety practices on campus through education, maintenance and design of campus buildings.

Our decisions and actions will be guided by the University's Public Affairs Mission, will be reflective of the University's resources, and informed by the University's Strategic Plan. As a learning institution, we recognize that planning for sustainability will be an evolving and iterative practice."

This information and these suggestions have been found via an ethnographic research project for the Department of Anthropology at Missouri State University. Research methods include: focus groups, interviews, and general data research.