Student Opportunities
There are many ways for students to get involved with sustainability at Loyola.
Join a Club
LUM has many environmentally focused student clubs. Below are a few. Log on to The Bridge to view more:
- EAC
- Net Impact
- Rotaract
- Student Athletes for Social Justice
- Food Recovery Network
- Outdoor Adventure Experience
- SGA Sustainability Committee
Intern
As a Laudato Si’ university, the campus has committed to addressing these efforts at the intersection of ecological and social justice.
Join our team and work with our Sustainability Director and Coordinator to make Loyola a more sustainable place!
Sustainability Interns will help advance sustainability initiatives across campus. Duties include but are not limited to:
- Development of content about sustainability initiatives on campus for social media platforms as well as on the sustainability webpage
- Engagement across campus and the community
- Involvement in initiatives like sustainable dining, waste management & campus composting, and climate action, depending on the student’s interest. Particular emphasis is on peer-to-peer education.
Volunteer
Loyola offers many sustainability-focused service opportunities. The Office of Sustainability supports the following organizations’ projects. Click on each to learn more:
- CCSJ Programs
- Encounter Baltimore Series
- Immersion Experiences
- Forever Green Thrift Store
- Oyster Gardening with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation
- CNR’s York Road Community Days
- EAC’s Invasive Species Removal Project
Become a Green Greyhound Student Leader (GGSL)
Green Greyhound Student Leaders is a new peer leadership program offered by the Office of Sustainability. GGSLs are student employees and peer educators who are assigned to residential areas at Loyola to teach their peers about environmental issues and encourage their community to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. They serve as an extended voice of the Office of Sustainability and an example of Loyola’s commitment to Caring for Our Common Home. Leaders are expected to lead and live by example, showing other students how a more sustainable lifestyle is possible as a college student.
Contact sustainability@loyola.edu to learn how to apply to be a GGLS.
Join the Residence Hall Opt-In Composting Program
Are you interested in composting in your dorm or apartment? Sign up for the Office of Sustainability’s Residence Hall Opt-In Composting Program. Each year, we provide compost bins and liners to students to collect food waste and compostable disposables in their on-campus rooms. Space is limited. Contact sustainability@loyola.edu to learn more and sign up.
Help with the Community Gardens
Do you have a green thumb, or just interested in getting your hands dirty? Join the SGA’s Sustainability Committee and assist with Loyola’s Community Gardens located behind Newman Towers next to the Gardens Residence Halls. Food grown in the community gardens is available to students and/or donated to the Govans Community Fridge.
Attend an Event
Loyola University Maryland hosts several annual sustainability-focused events such as:
- Francis Feast (October)
- Environmental Advocacy Day (February)
- Earth Day (April)
- Arbor Day (April)
- Good Stuff Campaign (Move-Out Donation Collection Program) (May)
Make Lifestyle Changes
Think Zero-Waste
Water Conservation
- Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth and scrubbing your hands with soap when washing them.
- Be conscious of water use while washing dishes. To conserve water, try using a small bin with warm water and rinse dishes using that water. Dump after it gets too dirty and refill. Start washing cleaner items first to dump bin less often.
- Push yourself to take shorter showers when possible.
- Only do full loads of laundry to save water!
Energy
- Turn off lights when you leave a room and shut down devices when not in use. Otherwise, the device uses electricity you don’t need.
- Unplug your phone chargers and other devices when not in use. Even when you aren’t using them, phone chargers and appliances use electricity unless plugged into a turned-off power strip. Try unplugging these items when you are not using them.
- Try to reduce the number of lights on in a room. Often, you do not need every light on.
- Make sure your windows are closed tightly to prevent drafts. Otherwise, precious heat or AC will escape, which wastes electricity.
- If the weather is nice, try ditching the AC and opening a window. Just be sure to close the window tightly when turning the AC or heat on!
- Try turning the AC off or down when leaving your room! If your room has Ecobees on the wall (Rahner Village, McAuley Hall, Ahern Hall, Aquinas Hall) and you do not want to turn the AC/heat off, energy-efficient temperature set points are 76 on warm days and 68 on cool days.
- Wash your laundry on “Cold” whenever possible. This way, no electricity is used to heat the water before it’s used to wash your clothes.
- Try air-drying your laundry! If you are in a time crunch, try taking your clothes out of the dryer during the drying cycle and then air drying them while they are damp.
Dining
- Give Meatless Mondays a try or go without meat one day per week.
- Reduce how often you have red meat.
- If you are interested in growing your own produce on campus, please contact sustainability@loyola.edu
- Familarize yourself with where Loyola Dining sources its food from.
Transportation
- Bike or walk places whenever possible.
- Take advantage of local bus routes to get around Baltimore instead of ubering or driving. Learn about student discounts.
- Use the MARC train to get to D.C. instead of ubering or driving. Learn about student discounts.
- Use Baltimore's LightRail system.
Advocacy & Action
- Loyola Votes can help you register to vote and provide you with updates on important deadlines for those who vote via absentee ballot.
- Volunteer locally ( see above)
- Join an environmental organization (see above)
- Join Loyola's Office of Sustainability Newsletter
- Stay up to date about the state of sustainability in Baltimore with the Baltimore Office of Sustainability’s Newsletter!
- Donate what you can to the Govans Community Fridge!
- Information on Baltimore City Committee hearings calendar.
