Four students took a class assignment and made it into an eco-friendly change in the Sigma Phi Epsilon house that they hope will catch on to other fraternities.
At the beginning of the semester, Sheila Smith, associate professor of information systems, assigned her ISOM 300 Project Management students with a project centered on environmental sustainability. The project's goal was to incorporate Ball State and the environment in an administrative way.
Senior business administration majors Cullen Miller and Elizabeth Stein, junior ISOM major Nick Arcoleo and senior computer science major Jeff Girton, decided to do a project they felt would make a difference.
Arcoleo, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, saw a need for sustainability in his fraternity's house on Riverside Avenue.
"We have a lot of trash going in and out," Arcoleo said. "I noticed a lot of recyclables we could have been sustaining. Also, we left the lights on a lot."
For their project, they decided to solve the environmental problems Arcoleo saw in his fraternity over the span of the semester.
Today, recycling bins are installed on each of the house's three floors. Notes that remind fraternity members to keep lights off when they are not being used accompany the house's light switches.
Miller, with funding from the fraternity, purchased a variety of green friendly cleaning products, including a biodegradable floor cleaner and other cleaners with reduced harmful chemicals.
As green friendly changes like these continue take place, Arcoleo feels fraternity members are being supportive.
"I announced it at chapter, and since then all of the brothers have been really cooperative," Arcoleo said. "They have been throwing cans and plastic away in the recycling and turning the lights off. The attitude is great."
With Ball State's sustainability efforts, Miller sees the changes he and his group made to Sigma Phi Epsilon as simply another way to get involved. He centered his goals on a single fraternity but hoped to encourage others as well.
"We're trying to spread the word and show that Sigma Phi Epsilon is taking an initiative," Miller said. "I'd like to get the word out about sustainability, and show that it is a good initiative to take in other fraternities. I feel like trying to educate people on helping the environment will work out better for everyone."
Overall, Arcoleo sees an important message in the environmentally friendly actions of his fraternity, and plans on continuing to improve sustainability efforts in the future.
"There's a lot of waste in today's society," he said. "We can't just throw every thing away. We need to recycle."
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