The Sophian

Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Rae Recto '10

At Smith, students frequently take a proactive role in sustainability efforts, whether through activism groups, developing policy proposals or simple daily actions like recycling. Now, students are also stepping up to help the college publicize green initiatives. Recently, Brigid Fitzgerald '10 and Melissa Choyce '10 won a contest to create a video capturing sustainability efforts at Smith.

"One of the things I saw this as an opportunity to do was to emphasize how important it is for people to deliberately incorporate whatever change you want into everyday life," Fitzgerald said. "The real power that I see, what's really going to make a difference, is when a lot of people start making different choices about how they get their food or how much they do or do not consume. So, it's really important to me to emphasize that aspect."

The video contest was organized by the College Relations department, along with Environmental Sustainability Director Dano Weisbord. Students uploaded their submissions onto YouTube, and Choyce and Fitzgerald will share a $300 prize.

Choyce said she found the contest announcement online over the summer. She updated her Facebook status asking for a partner for the project, and Fitzgerald responded.

"I thought it sounded really interesting," Choyce said. "I have experience with video editing, with taking found footage and archival footage and things like that and creating a story through it, but I hadn't had any experience shooting my own anything and putting it together, so that was pretty awesome."

Choyce and Fitzgerald's video is titled "A Day in the Life of a Smith Water Bottle." According to Fitzgerald, they decided on the subject of a water bottle as a way to show all the different ways students can be sustainable in daily life. The video mentions Smith's energy efficient buildings, compostable Grab & Go packaging, biking and bike racks, trayless dining, food composting, cogeneration plant and free boxes.

"I think that's one of the strengths about sustainability at Smith, it's really incorporated into students' everyday activities," Fitzgerald said. "Students really do adopt sustainable habits here. I came up with the water bottle idea because when you go to central check-in they hand out the water bottles, and I thought that's sort of a good symbol to represent sustainability at Smith."

Weisbord, Associate Director for New Media Jeff Baker and Assistant Director of College Relations Judith Roberge judged the videos.

Continued...

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