Safeguarding the environment one ‘litter’ bit at a time
November 2007
Gary Gaulin doesn’t just talk the talk on sustainability; he also walks the walk … and picks up litter as he goes.
Clemson’s associate director of residential facilities is a great example of how efforts both big and small can make a difference in preserving the environment.
When Clemson announced its initial universitywide recycling initiative, Gaulin was immediately on board, doing his part and persuading others to “get a blue bin” for recycling white paper in their offices.
Later, his involvement in the Clemson University Environmental Committee helped him approach the subject of sustainability on a more professional level. He realized he was in a position to influence the personal development of students and to help them “do the right thing.”
Doing the right thing for Clemson’s environment led to the establishment in 2006 of the Solid Green committee, with Gaulin as its first chairman. Using South Carolina’s anti-litter organization, PalmettoPride, as a model, this committee tackled litter on the Clemson campus through educational awareness and hands-on litter removal.
Gaulin praises the hardworking custodial and landscaping staffs that help make Clemson a showplace campus, “but we would like to see litter reduced and eventually eliminated in our community.”
Since the kick-off at the August 2006 Welcome Back Festival, the committee has held two Solid Green Days for litter pick up on campus, and plans to make this an annual fall semester ritual. Solid Green also sponsors “Adopt a Spot” to encourage student-organization adopters to take special pride in keeping Clemson clean. By fulfilling their commitments to twice-a-semester clean-up efforts, these adopters complete 64 pick-ups per year collectively in the 16 identified spots on campus and in the downtown area.
“Students who participate in Solid Green initiatives show their pride in Clemson and are helping to create a cultural shift resulting in a more sustainable future,” says Gaulin.
In 2007, Solid Green expanded its mission to include other environmental issues, such as recycling and energy conservation, and changed its tagline to “Solid Green: For a Better Future.”
Students are responding in droves, joining Students for Environmental Awareness and participating in programs designed to teach real-life lessons.
Lighten Your Load encourages students moving out of residence halls in the spring to donate unwanted clothing, food and lumber from loft beds – items that would previously have gone into the landfill – to local charities.
RA’s in Lever and Manning are currently sponsoring a competition to see which residence hall can use the least amount of utilities with actions such as turning out unneeded lights and taking shorter showers.
Gaulin joined the Clemson staff in 1983 after graduating from Winthrop University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He later earned a Masters of Education degree from Clemson.
He likes the progress he has seen during his 24 years in housing at Clemson, and he’ll have an even better vantage point when he moves into the chairman’s seat of the Clemson University Environmental Committee in summer 2008.
Gaulin says picking up litter can be a first step toward turning students into lifelong environmentalists. After spending a day picking up discarded soda cans, cigarette butts and all manner of trash, Gaulin says these students often say they will never litter again.
“When they are really looking for litter,” says Gaulin, “their eyes are opened to what affect we are having on our environment with such careless behavior.”
Beth Jarrard, public information director for internal communications, can be reached at Inside@clemson.edu or (864) 656-3860.