Sustainability Initiatives

In a bid to encourage the reduction in use of disposal cups for coffee during seminars and other events, the GSO provides each incoming graduate student with their own coffee mug (with a nice design and GSO logo).

The GSO conducts activities every year in which graduate students can volunteer to help the community of West Lafayette-Lafayette in various ways. The following events are conducted every year:

• Highway cleanup
• Food bank volunteering
• Food drive
• Arbor Day tree planting
• Clothing drive 

How can we pique the scientific curiosity of the next generation and educate them about sustainability? Simple! Help high schoolers design solar-powered cars and race them against each other. That's what we do under the Solar Rollers initiative every year.

We enjoy volunteering at local Food Finders Food Banks. Pantry shifts enable graduate students to directly help reduce food waste, provide food assistance to the hungry, and protect the environment through community-based, multi-sector collaborations. The GSO will typically host a volunteering session at our local banks once a month. We invite you to join! 

About Food Finders Food Banks:

• Assisting Tippecanoe county and 15 surrounding counties since 1981. 
• Providing food to 120 Partner Agencies.
• Advocating for the hungry and educating the public about hunger-related issues. 
• Funded by United Way, foundations, grants, USDA, corporations, sponsors, and individual donors. 
• Distributes more than 9 million pounds of food annually to a network of non-profit organizations that work to alleviate hunger throughout North Central Indiana. 
• Headquartered in Lafayette, IN.