Loyola University New Orleans is an environment that is home to many students that actively strive to make a change. Whether this change be personally or professionally, these students go above and beyond to ensure that change is made possible. The environment around us is posed with multiple factors that threaten its well being daily. Whether it be students who use reusable items versus disposable ones or students who do volunteer work, any decision made to make a positive change, is one that will help do right by the environment. Students at Loyola are taking every step necessary in order to help combat these threats to our home and our campus.

Rowan Sawyer is a biology pre-health junior. She is the chair of the sustainability committee and the speaker of the senate for the Student Government Association.
Sawyer’s voice in the SGA has allowed her to take her ideas for change and bring them to life. Sawyer has helped foster the community garden Initiative and composting for “Crawfish in The Quad.”
“There are little things that we can do without big infrastructural changes that can create a better, sustainable campus.”
Sawyer was invited to the Keep Louisiana Beautiful Coalition this semester where she spoke with other student leaders from different universities across the state. There, Sawyer learned about different ways other student leaders tackle environmental concerns on their campuses.
As the incoming SGA vice president, alongside president Diamond Dixon, the duo intend to increase recycling spaces on campus.
“The best part of creating initiatives in student government is the outreach,” she said. “The programs are just so fruitful.”

Taking the scraps of fabrics and giving life to something new is no simple task, but this is something that psychology senior Electra Pelias has been doing for as long as she could remember.
Since she was young, Pelias has gravitated towards making art out of trash.
“Whenever someone asks why I make it, I always say ‘Because I have to.’”Pelias is an artist that uses recycled materials to express herself all while using art to help process her emotion.
Pelias will be selling ceramics and jewelry at the upcoming Earth Week Sustainability Fair, where she will be donating 20% of the proceeds to the Alliance for Affordable Energy.

“Clay itself is an infinitely recyclable material up until you fire it, so I take comfort in knowing all my mistakes can be recycled into new clay”

Environmental studies senior Jackie Mutter joined Students for Environmental Action her first semester at Loyola. She is currently the co-president of SEA alongside Ellie Redemann.
“SEA is Ellie and I’s baby, and we kind of built it from almost nothing.”
With the help of Mutter, SEA has been able to work with Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, where they spent an entire day recycling oyster shells, which are used as an artificial reef and are used to combat coastal erosion.
Mutter feels as though seeing other students that are a part of SEA make bonds with one another and having the urge to do more with their environment is something that she considers is one of the best aspects of being co-president.
Mutter and Redemann are both Environmental Justice scholars, receiving support from Entergy’s Charitable Donation fund.

The Environmental Law Society is a student-led organization that seeks to demonstrate and build Loyola’s power in the field of environmental law, according to vice president Jessica Munson. The 2L student said the overall goal of the organization is to bring attention to and support local environmental organizations, creating a network of environmentally-minded students at Loyola, and helping draw awareness to environmental issues that affect the Loyola community locally.
“Being a part of the Environmental Law Society has helped me feel so much connected not only to my physical environment but also has brought me closer to the people who also care for the environment at my school,” she said. “As vice president, I feel so privileged to collaborate with other passionate individuals who share a commitment to sustainability. I feel so lucky to be apart of such a wonderful organization that promotes environmental protection and sustainability in my home state.”