This culture of recycling and reuse is something I took for granted back home, and this lack of awareness in my school sparked a passion in me for protecting the environment. Entering my sophomore year, I was appointed to the position of Student Government Director of Sustainability, and I immediately began researching TCU’s strengths, but also searching for areas that needed improvement. I was pleased to discover that our campus had many clubs filled with students, faculty, and staff who were trying to do exactly what I was trying to do: create change.  

In 2017, TCU created a University Sustainability Committee comprised of students, faculty, and staff. The next year, the committee drafted a sustainability policy for the university as well as collaborated with ROXO, the student–run marketing agency, to create a clear message and mission for the university and to create a website to get our message out. The website will be finished this fall and will include resources such as the Texas Drought Monitor, guides to recycling, suggestions for how to live a more ecofriendly lifestyle, and will connect students to resources around campus. 

In the spring of 2018, TCU held its first–ever Earth Day fair. Campus organizations put up tables to educate students, faculty, and staff on why every choice they make is important and how these choices impact the earth. In 2019, the event expanded to a week-long celebration focusing on water and trash consumption, waste and recycling, and environment and society.  

Sodexo catered a vegetarian food truck for students for lunch to promote a greener diet, and students from Dr. Coles’ Environment and Society class hosted a variety of educational events and interactive games. Seniors Austin and Eric Ngo distributed straws made out of grass and utensils made from wood to encourage students to reduce single use plastic usage. Dr. Macias and the Gamma Kappa chapter of Alpha Phi Omega held a school–wide denim drive and collected 75 pounds of denim to donate to a company that repurposes it to make insulation. Clubs like the Environment Club and the Food Recovery Network also participated with their own events. At the end of the week, the founder of the Great Plains Restoration Council (GRPC), Jarid Manos, came to campus to speak about his work and explain how students can get involved in protecting this beautiful land that is right in their backyard. Dr. Coles plans to continue TCU’s relationship with GPRC in the fall by bringing her class to the prairie to do a BioBlitz.  

When I was appointed Student Government Director of Sustainability, there were issues I wanted to address, including the widespread usage of Styrofoam products and the lack of recycling across campus. I am pleased to report that as of 2019, we have eliminated the use of Styrofoam products and switched over to reusable options in our dining facilities as well as at the Chick-Fil-A located on campus. Every year, we have purchased more recycling bins, and a continued aim is to increase education and awareness about how to properly recycle. 

Last year, I outlined a 1–5–10-year plan for the direction TCU needs to go in order to become even more environmentally responsible. It was TCU’s first sustainability plan, and it was voted on and passed by the Student Government Association in the fall of 2018, showing that our students want to change and want to be a part of making a difference. In the last two years, we have experienced a sustainability boom on campus with many different groups now working together cohesively. These passionate groups are going to bring a massive wave of change, and it is truly inspiring to see everyone working together to make a difference in their community, which in turn will make an impactful difference in the world. I am proud to be a part of this movement and even prouder to be a Horned Frog. 

This article originally appeared in the July/August issue of Madeworthy.

Nicole Gorretta is a senior Movement Science Major, Italian Minor at TCU. She currently sits on the Environmental Health and Safety university committee, and the Sustainability university committee. She has been appointed to the position of Director of Sustainability for the Student Government Association the last two years. Recently she won the TCU Office of Community Engagement Service Legacy award for her work on sustainability as well as directing a TCU Day of Service that strives to connect TCU students with the greater Fort Worth community through service. She plans to graduate from TCU in spring 2020 and go on to get her Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

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H2O comprises approximately 70% of both our planet and bodies. Beyond survival, water performs key functions in our environment: as a major factor in the transformation of geological structures, like coastlines, riverbeds, sediment, caves and mountains; and as a profound influence on weather regulation. Our behavior directly affects the quality and availability of this life-sustaining, miraculous molecule. As municipal populations continue growing throughout Texas, water scarcity is becoming a priority in many city and state administrative office buildings. 

In San Marcos, Texas State University’s Meadows Center for Water and the Environment is at the forefront of freshwater research. The Spring Lake campus is situated around the unique body of water known for generations as “Aquarena Springs,” a former amusement park located at the headwaters of the San Marcos River. Texas State’s conversion of the facility was completed in 2005, restoration was finalized in 2013. In homage to the history of the springs, the Director of Environmental Strategy, Dr. Andrew Sansom, has a desk fashioned from the first glass-bottom boat in his office that was once the Honeymoon Suite of the Aquarena Inn.   

Photo courtesy of the Meadow Center for Water and the Environment

With eight federally protected species, including blind salamanders and fountain darters, the Center maintains precisely-monitored environmental parameters. The Center also works to spawn species that have never been spawned. Dr. Sansom warmly notes they have doubled the population of Texas’ first successfully grown wild rice. “Took us a while to figure out how to do that.” 

More than fifty thousand students visit the springs every year as part of their robust educational program. This initiative extends into the training of Citizen Scientists, who measure water quality in the state’s rivers and streams every month. These two thousand active volunteers form an early warning system for water quality in Texas. Collected online, this data allows local leaders to develop remediation and conservation efforts. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality recently awarded this program an Environmental Excellence Award for their impact. 

Photo courtesy of the Meadow Center for Water and the Environment

As Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife for 12 years before transitioning to the Meadows Center 18 years ago, Dr. Sansom adds, “Water permeated everything we did, from recreation to fish and wildlife. It is the biggest natural resource issue facing Texas in the coming generation.” 

With the state’s consistent growth showing no signs of slowing, all communities are being forced to use water more efficiently. Naturally, water sustainability is a hot-button issue for Dr. Sansom. “One of the reasons the Rio Grande does not really get down into Texas anymore is because in the upper parts of the basin they grow hay which takes huge amounts of water out of the river. It doesn’t seem cost effective to do that.” 

Texas has built no major new reservoirs in 25 years, so water conservation must start at the top. There is a gradual shift in city governments to the One Water philosophy which connects all forms of water in the system – municipal, rain, waste, and condensate – into a comprehensive, integrated management plan. Applying this approach to large water users like schools can help facilitate increased efficiency, as seen in Wimberly, where the school district recently announced a zero-waste year. 

Photo courtesy of the Meadow Center for Water and the Environment

Any discussion of water conservation inevitably returns to convincing communities to alter their approaches to lawn care and gardening, which valued lush grasses and plantings so highly for so long. Dr. Sansom notes that the Center is working with upscale neighborhoods known for water-heavy blooms, like azaleas, to find more regionally-suitable alternatives, placing the higher value on the water itself. San Antonio, El Paso, and Austin have made advances in lawn irrigation efficiency, and he elaborates, “The national leader in this regard is Las Vegas, Nevada, where homeowners can actually sell to the city every square foot of lawn converted from turfgrass to xeriscape.” 

Leadership at all levels must find ways to make water conservation a priority in order to make any sort of real change. This troubles those like Dr. Sansom who know the significance of ignoring water. “Sadly, my opinion is major reforms in response to climate change will be difficult until we experience more extremes such as flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey or the drought in 2011 – the worst on record.” While the legislative process may move more slowly than necessary, change is possible as individual Texans educate themselves on methods of water conservation. Sansom adds, “As daunting as we think it is, things are much worse in other parts of the world.”  

For more information on how to water conservation, visit: 

• Texas Living Waters Project https://texaslivingwaters.org/water-conservation/ 
• Take Care of Texas http://takecareoftexas.org/conservation-tips/conserve-our-water 
• Texas Water Foundation https://www.texaswater.org/conservation/ 

An Austin native, Lyle Brooks relocated to Fort Worth in order to immerse himself in the burgeoning music scene and the city’s rich cultural history, which has allowed him to cover everything from Free Jazz to folk singers. He’s collaborated as a ghostwriter on projects focusing on Health Optimization, Roman Lawyers, and an assortment of intriguing subjects requiring his research.

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