In recent years, CSUMB has been widely recognized as one of the most sustainable universities, not just in California, but all over the country. In fact in 2020, the school was even included in the Campus sustainable index which is ”a publication from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), a leader and driver in North America’s campus sustainability movement.” (CSUMB.EDU).
In an effort to make the Cal State Monterey Bay campus more sustainable, the student government, Associated Students (AS) ,has organized a clothing drive that would serve students to review their wardrobe and most importantly, to reduce the level of pollution caused by clothing disposal.
AS invites students and faculty to donate their gently used gartmens and other items, like unused toiletries and hygiene products and bring them to the boxes located at the OS building, library, CAHSS and UPD buildings. The last day of donation is May 20th.
Kaylie Huebner, a senior environmental studies Major and AS senator says that the original thrift store idea “originated as an idea for collecting discarded items before students move out and then giving them away before students move back in and vice versa,”Huebner said).
Though this was just the beginning stages of a much larger idea, it still helped fill a void for students that needed certain essentials such as clothing, shelves, or various dorm supplies. In the meantime, Associated Students started to focus more on the pop up events such as the one people used at Earth Day fest. This helped many students recognize the positives of second hand clothing and the potential impact it can have on our campus going forward.
When asked if they plan to expand the clothing drive in the next couple years, Huebner said “that’s the dream, it’s in the works, and we're starting conversations about hopefully getting it set up in room 12 which is where the basic needs hub is”. However, it could take two to three years to get to that point.
Huebner also said they plan to do more pop up events in the near future, potentially on a weekly basis, such as every Friday in front of the Otter Student Union. Nothing is set in stone just yet, but it's truly awesome to see such passionate people like Huebener herself making such impactful on our campus. She also credited Jewlia Fletcher (Basic Needs senator) and Cam Coriell (incoming Sustainability senator) as major contributors in getting this idea moving on campus.
From talking to my close peers and classmates on campus, I know that the second hand clothing store would have such a positive impact on all facets of the CSUMB community. Not only would it further develop our sustainability goals on campus, it would also benefit so many students that truly depend on affordable clothing and dorm items that they cant purchase elsewhere. At the end of the day, the future for CSUMB is a very bright one, there's so many new and exciting things happening in the next couple years, but this project is one that makes so much sense. Our school already stands out among all the other CSU’s when it comes to sustainability but I think with the clothing drive we could start to lead by example, thanks to the great ideas from our fellow otters in ASA.
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