Editor’s note: The following Q&A is part of Xpress‘ annual Sustainability series.
Olivia Williams is co-chair of the Student Environmental Center at UNC Asheville.
Xpress: What environmental or sustainability efforts on your campus are you most proud of?
Williams: I work at the Student Environmental Center (SEC) at UNCA, and I am most proud of the work that my peers and I do there. The SEC is a student-funded and student-led organization, and we do many things such as distributing green grants to other organizations at UNCA for sustainable projects, educating students and staff through activities, holding a monthly “free store” for students to take secondhand items donated by other students, maintaining three on-campus gardens to promote sustainable agriculture and donate our produce and more.
As an activist, how do you keep yourself motivated amid challenges to environmental progress?
I will admit that sometimes it is hard for me to stay motivated when thinking of the challenges to environmental progress; however, to think more positively I often remind myself of all of the intellectual, strong and determined students that surround me in my environmental science classes at school, and it gives me hope that my generation is capable of making a positive difference on the environmental state of the world.
What’s one thing you would like to see Xpress readers do to promote sustainability in WNC in the coming year?
One of the important things that anyone can do to promote sustainability is to minimize overconsumption, which will in turn reduce waste. The easiest way to minimize consumption is to be more thoughtful about what you are buying — think about if you really need it before buying it and consider trying to find a more sustainable alternative such as shopping secondhand.
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