Photos by Ralph Freso Slideshow
One student’s T-shirt stash is as follows, at least five he donated of 40 he owns on Wednesday at a Grand Canyon University event called Sustainapalooza.
“Jesus te ama”: “It’s Spanish,” said Brendan Hail, of the shirt that in English is Jesus loves you.
“Patrick Mahomes”: Yes, it literally just says the Chiefs’ quarterbacks name. “I come from Kansas City. I’ve got a lot of Chiefs T-shirts,” he said, including the new one noting the recent Super Bowl title.
“Busy Bee”: This is a day care center where Hail said he worked as a “babysitter” one summer.
“T-shirt from church back home”: That’s not what the shirt says, it was what Hail said. “I got it a few years ago.”
“On Earth as it is in Heaven”: “It’s a cool shirt I just never wore it,” he said of the prayer line over colorful art of the globe.
The globe was top of mind for students who attended the event on the Quad created by the Associated Students of GCU’s sustainability team, which also included stations to make sustainable cleaner, decorate reusable bags, make jewelry and trail mix and other activities.
“It’s definitely good,” Hail said of turning in his shirts, getting a a cool Green Week shirt in return and reminding him to go through his excess.
It’s also a reminder of a bigger issue that ASGCU Sustainability Director Noah Voss wanted to get across during its Green Week and the daily activities on campus: Go "back to basics" and consume less.
“For sustainability, less is more,” said Voss. “Just seeing the value of what they have instead of buying more stuff. Taking those small steps adds up.”
At a Sustainability Summit on Tuesday with ASGCU leaders, students offered some helpful ideas for a more sustainable campus life as well, such as eliminating plastic bags at campus venues and providing garbage containers in parking garages.
The T-shirts – there was a huge bin nearly full of them an hour into the event – will be donated to a local nonprofit of clothing closets at area schools founded by GCU graduate Connor Froysland.
“The production of clothes – the more you produce, the more wasteful,” said Maria Rodriguez Pereira, ASGCU community engagement director.
For example, according to the World Wildlife Fund, it takes 713 gallons of water to make one cotton T-shirt.
Buy more new clothes, you use more resources.
“There is a lot of fast fashion out there,” Rodriguez Pereira said. “But I feel good about our generation that is into thrifting. It’s trendy now.”
Certainly, someone else out there will just have to have a “Busy Bee” T-shirt.
Grand Canyon University senior writer Mike Kilen can be reached at [email protected]
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