Daily Skiff

Members of the TCU Environmental Club worked together this semester to revitalize the group after it nearly died out last year.

The club lacked leadership after its president left to study abroad, said Macy Zander, senior environmental science and political science major. That, combined with members' hectic school and work schedules, caused club involvement to dwindle. As meetings became more sporadic, Zander said, attendance at meetings dropped to as low as four or five people on average.

Zander said she and sophomore environmental science major Tom Calvert-Rosenberger came together as the club's co-presidents to give the club the direction it lacked, she said.

"This year Macy and I had a lot of time on our hands, and nobody had really taken any action, so we just decided to see what we could start up," Calvert-Rosenberger said.

Zander said club members went person to person passing out fliers made from environmentally-friendly recycled paper around campus to raise awareness of the club among students.

"We were just trying to resuscitate (the club) because it pretty much died out last year," Zander said.

Although she said membership was difficult to measure, Zander said club attendance at meetings this semester ranges between 15-30 people, many of who are freshmen and sophomores - a group whose absence in previous years she cited as a major contributor to the club's decline.

The club plans to revive biweekly community service projects it performed around the TCU area, Calvert-Rosenberger said. In October, the club cleaned trash from the pond behind Worth Hills, which Calvert-Rosenberger said it would likely do at least one more time this year.

While the club will still do community service, the club has shifted its focus this year to promoting environmental awareness in the campus community, especially about initiatives the university implemented in recent years, which Zander said go largely unnoticed by students.

"I wish they would publicize more what they are already doing because TCU is actually doing quite a few things to be more environmentally friendly," Zander said. "It's a source of pride for the school."

To promote student awareness, the club puts up signs weekly around campus informing students of interesting facts or fun tips students can use to conserve energy, and members said they hope to visit local elementary schools to inform children of ways to be more green.

Only a few months removed from nearly dying out, Zander said she is optimistic about the club's future.

"It is definitely improved, and I'm really excited about that," she said.

Students may e-mail environmentalclub@tcu.edu or attend one of the group's meetings held every Monday at 5 p.m. in the environmental sciences office on the second floor of the Sid Richardson Building, Zander said.

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