Volunteer Lynne Salzburg was sent on a goose chase to Santa Fe College early Saturday morning that led her to a donation drive.
Goose Chase is an app that houses the Eco Chase Challenge, a three-month conservation competition created by the Alachua County Department of Solid Waste and Resource Recovery. Fifty teams, varying in size, complete tasks that teach them how to become more aware about preserving the environment around them.
“We're doing different challenges and competing for points,” Salzburg said. “There are prizes at the end, but who knows if we'll get there or not. But so far, we've done a lot of interesting things.”
Salzburg’s team is competing for her neighborhood, Gainesville Cohousing. So far, they have amassed over 14,000 points and rank sixth on the leaderboard. She has participated in a “Meatless Monday” cooking challenge, listened to several lectures on conservation topics and, most recently, volunteered at a donation drive to collect items for the Repurpose Project.
“I thought I was pretty conscious of recycling and reusing, but this has certainly upped my game,” Salzburg said.
Community members were able to donate different household items to be distributed to numerous organizations, including Haven Hospice, Tools for Schools and the Saints Food Share alongside the Repurpose Project. There was also a spot for hazardous waste to be dropped off and properly recycled or repurposed. Tents for each spot were lined up, and participants could pull their car up to each spot as a volunteer unloaded their items.
Alanna Carinio, the organizer of the event, said the efficiency of their event could not have been achieved without their volunteers, many of which came from the Eco Chase Challenge. Members from various competing teams worked together to collect donations from 195 cars.
“They are volunteering today at this event, which is why we have lots of people running around like ants on a cupcake,” Carinio said. “They're able to go to each car, kind of like the Chick-fil-A line. You put in your order at the beginning, and by the time you get to the window, your order's ready. We know what's in the car, and they just unload it at each stop, and cars come in and out in under two minutes.”
The event was in conjunction with Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo’s event, “Party for the Planet.” Donors were given discounted tickets to the zoo, which was just across the road, where they could continue to learn more about sustainability and celebrate Earth Day.
At the entrance of the zoo, nonprofits and other groups lined the sidewalks with interactive displays to educate the community about a variety of conservation issues around the Alachua County area. Turtle shells, soil samples and many other tangible items allowed children and adults to begin to understand the different causes.
Jade Woodling, the conservation education curator at the zoo, expressed the impact children have in instilling eco-friendly habits in their households when they are educated on it from a young age.
“The kids in their households are usually the ones peer pressuring everybody to recycle correctly or not use as many plastics," Woodling said. “So, they're pretty amazing educators out there in the world.”
Sustainability efforts such as these reflect the larger initiatives by Santa Fe College to promote conservation. Danielle Dorley, the energy and sustainability manager at the college, works alongside students and faculty to promote zero waste on campus through the Sustainable Santa Fe initiative.
The initiative began in 2007 when members of the college saw a need for improvement in the sustainability sphere. A committee formed and began to tackle the issue by hiring a consultant to develop a zero-waste plan for the campus. Now, almost 20 years later, the group has helped integrate sustainability into the culture of the college, most recently establishing locations around campus for students to drop off batteries to avoid toxic waste from entering the landfills.
Going forward, Dorley said she hopes to establish an organic food diversion plan at all food-generating locations on campus if the budget allows. This program would ensure that all food waste would be set aside for composting rather than the landfill.
“Decarbonization, which will not just impact Gainesville, but all of us, and doing our best for the global impact of climate change is really what I'm hoping to accomplish,” Dorley said.