For my service event, I chose to join the Ohio State community in participating in Spring into Service during the morning of March 23, 2019. During this event, the student cohort within the Office of Student Life, Pay It Forward provides opportunities for students to participate in environmentally-focused service events around Columbus. Fellow buckeyes and I met at the Union at 8am to receives our assignments for the morning before we left in provided transportation to our different sites.

Our International Affairs Scholars group was assigned to work with the non-profit organization Flow. We worked alongside the Olentangy River. The leadership of the organization were very welcoming and excited for us being there to help. They explained how trees and other plants can be harmful or beneficial to an environment based on how and when they are introduced. If they are harmful and not native, they are considered to be invasive species and should be eradicated. The leadership of Flow specified two trees in the area near the river that needed to be cut down because of the harm they do to the habitat near the river. This was the main purpose of the service event that day. We were suppose to cut down the callery pear trees and the honeysuckle trees in the area. They taught our group how to recognize these trees and gave us loppers and chainsaws to cut the trees down. After a while of cutting down trees, we were instructed to create piles of the trees. Some piles are pictured above.

This bring means to why this topic and event relates to International Affairs. These trees are some of the many invasive species of plants and animals that are intentionally or incidentally brought from foreign countries. These species can be brought through many avenues such as but not limited to trade and immigration.

After volunteering, we were taken back to the Union for lunch and a panel on ways we, as students, can practice habits favoring sustainability in our everyday lives. There were three panelists. Two of them work in the Ohio State community in sustainability aspects, and the other panelist is a current student who started her own student organization about sustainability and recycling efforts. They all talked about how they became passionate about sustainability and what they do in their everyday lives either at their jobs or at home to practice sustainability. They gave us easy tips and techniques of how we, as students, can incorporate sustainability in our lives slowly in order for it to become a habit we no longer think about. I gained knowledge of ways to advocate for and incorporate sustainability into my life that I never thought of. The student panelist told us about how coffee shops and smoothie shops will use our own cups to put our drinks in we bring them. As a result, a lot less styrofoam and plastic cups will be used, decreasing the amount of waste they create. Another helpful tip I gained was to use reusable straws and to encourage my friends and family to join me in adopting these tactics to promote sustainability. I intend to incorporate what I learned in my everyday life, and I’m really thankful that I was able to make a difference in my community that way I did while learning about sustainability.