On April 22, Instagram stories across the globe are filled with images of picturesque hikes, sunrises and flower fields in honor of Earth Day. While it is a holiday that celebrates the earth’s beauty, it also highlights the importance of sustainability. Here at UT, numerous organizations around campus are involved in sustainability initiatives to promote environmental awareness and foster an eco-conscious culture across the university. One such organization is Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville.
As its acronym suggests, SPEAK prides itself on its ability to be a voice for change within the local community. Whether this is through more basic functions of sustainability, like recycling and composting, or through more complex projects such as aiding in food disparity, SPEAK maintains an unchanging goal: encourage individuals to do the best they can to reduce their carbon footprint. Whether that be through vegan alternatives, shopping secondhand or taking public transportation, SPEAK encourages every individual to act responsibly and take care of the earth. Michael McKinney, advisor to and co-founder of SPEAK, believes that it can change the world for the better.
“It’s a good way for students to learn how to be effective advocates for social policies. Whereas a lot of other student clubs are obviously more social,” McKinney said. “With these guys, SPEAK has always really been a very selfless kind of club because they want to improve the world.”
Though SPEAK has had a consistent overarching creed, this year the organization plans to move in a different direction, emphasizing outreach into the community and advocating for environmental justice. Ellen Barnes, a junior majoring in biology and upcoming president of SPEAK, sees a more cohesive and intersectional approach to sustainability in the future. Whether this be through more partnerships with organizations on and off campus, a push for more advocacy or higher member retention rates, there are plans to expand SPEAK’s reach and impact in the local community.
This year, for instance, SPEAK will adopt the duties of the Compost Coalition to promote engagement with the student body. Barnes attributes the organization’s smaller numbers to the split sustainability organizations on campus but remains optimistic about the potential of collaboration in the coming year.
“A lot of people started to form environmental organizations my freshman year,” Barnes said. “So we divided our members. … Another goal of mine is to bring people back together.”
While SPEAK is looking for collaborations on campus in order to become a cohesive force for environmental change, they are also interested in emphasizing advocacy and inclusivity within SPEAK and the surrounding sustainability community. SPEAK aims to become more involved in environmental justice initiatives by partnering with organizations like Rooted East Knoxville and the Free Store, which work to provide free clothes and food alternatives to those who are in need.
SPEAK sees sustainability as fundamentally intertwined with social and environmental justice. McKinney feels passionately about the impact of sustainability on social justice initiatives, such as aiding in food disparity. As a scientist, McKinney recognized that social inequalities are just as important, if not more important, than environmental inequalities.
“There’s no point in having clean air and clean water and wildlife if people are, you know, they need each other. And there’s a lot of social inequities, which is what we have now,” McKinney said. “I realized that the social aspects are at least probably more important these days.”
Through these outreach and justice initiatives, SPEAK hopes to emphasize the importance of inclusivity and intersectionality as environmental injustices disproportionately affect marginalized communities. They also hope to be educators in the community and advocate for true change through their composting and recycling events.
Barnes urges anyone interested in getting involved with the community to attend one of their meetings and learn more about what SPEAK does and how important sustainability is. SPEAK’s upcoming Earth Week events focus on sustainable cooking and shopping, and they will participate in the Earth Day Festival at the Student Union Plaza.
McKinney offers words of advice to anyone who is not an environmental studies major who would like to get involved in the sustainability movement.
“Find what you love to do,” McKinney said. “Whether you’re a writer or an engineer or a business person, do it. But use that as a tool to promote sustainability.”
