At the close of Sustainability Week, members of the environmental organization Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville speak about the importance of staying “pumped” about environmental consciousness.

“In the spirit of thinking globally and acting locally, we aim to build a community of leaders who act on stewardship and sustainability,” said Jessica Murphy, S.P.E.A.K. co-president and junior in environmental studies.

Since 1993, S.P.E.A.K. has been a student-run organization working to increase awareness of local, regional and national environmental issues on campus while generating creative solutions to those issues. To accomplish this goal, students in S.P.E.A.K. collaborate with community-based environmental organizations and movements to spread sustainable ideas on campus and around Knoxville.

Jesse Farber-Eger, sophomore in environmental sociology and media relations spokesperson for S.P.E.A.K., noted that Sustainability Week and all of S.P.E.A.K.’s events are primarily aimed at increasing awareness.

“We always try to inform people of the state of environmental affairs and how society affects the environment,” Farber-Eger said. “Anything that has to do with energy or food or environment, we want to make that information accessible.”

Every year, S.P.E.A.K. chooses a central theme to spotlight in their events and programming. In the past, it has focused on the TN Bottle Bill, The Keystone XL Pipeline, improving recycling in Knoxville and addressing water resource issues.

In 2013, about 30 S.P.E.A.K. members attended a climate rally in Washington, D.C., to protest the Keystone XL Pipeline alongside 40,000 other environmentalists from around the world.

Murphy said “big name” environmental speakers came out to encourage environmental action to the huge crowd gathered in front of the Washington Monument right before they marched to the White House.

“It was just really powerful,” Murphy said. “We were chanting and talking to a lot of people around the nation who were there for the same reasons we were. … That was very exciting and a great opportunity for students both new to the environmental movement and experienced environmentalists to be part of something much bigger than our campus organization.”

Murphy noted that those experiences can be hard to bring back to campus, where many are apathetic to the environmental issues.

“We go to these conferences and it gets you really pumped up about these issues, but then you come back and no one else is really as excited as you are,” she said, mentioning that members who attended conferences and rallies are asked to recount their experiences at Monday meetings to keep those issues relevant on members minds.

In an effort to keep the energy and enthusiasm for sustainability up, S.P.E.A.K. attends one conference focused on environmental action and awareness a semester. In the spring, they will be attending the Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference at North Carolina State University.

Farber-Eger attended a similar national conference last year in Pittsburgh and said the experience was “amazing” and another example of the opportunities that being involved with S.P.E.A.K. provides.

“There’s just a lot of opportunities that you wouldn’t otherwise have, and (S.P.E.A.K.) really helps to lender more of those experiences,” he said. “We all got to go basically for free and it was this major national event all because we are student activities for Tennessee … I’m very thankful for that.”

This year, S.P.E.A.K. will work to improve community relationships and involvement by inviting members form environmental organizations around Knoxville to attend its meetings. So far, they have brought in representatives from the Real Food Challenge, the Food Policy Council, the Nuclear Engineering Society and Project V.E.G.G.I.E. among others.

Farber-Eger noted the importance of collaborating with these local organizations to accomplish a greater goal of promoting environmental awareness and action.

“It’s important because we are all after the same general goal: promoting sustainability and environmental activism and awareness in Knoxville.” Farber-Eger said. “It just makes perfect sense to get involved with these local organizations and build up our number and our movement.”

Farber-Eger mirrored Murphy’s concerns about reaching out to students on campus who might be too distracted to stay in-tune with global atmospheric issues.

“The biggest challenge is really getting people to care,” Farber-Eger said. “It’s a big school and everyone’s focused on getting their wok done and football … They’re more interested in different things and it can be a challenge.”

However, Murphy said she ultimately hopes local groups and organizations like S.P.E.A.K. can show students and community members why putting an emphasis on environment issues matters.

“Environmental issues affect all of us,” she said. “A lot of students aren’t aware of these issues or don’t want to be aware of them, so organizations like S.P.E.A.K. really bring them home and make them real.”

S.P.E.A.K. meets every Monday at 8 p.m. in Room 225 in the university center. If you would like to be added to the email list, contact Murphy at [email protected].