The 10th annual Sustainability Symposium featured various activities such as a clothing swap, a food drive and crafting, as well as campus and community sustainability-themed posters and tables Tuesday night.

The Sustainability Symposium encourages students and faculty to make a commitment to ensuring the next decade is sustainable through actions within organizations and efforts on campus. The hope is that this empowerment will carry on to surrounding communities in both the Ames area and across the country.

The campus and community sustainability-themed tables and posters displayed how various organizations are taking the initiative to go green.

Mandy Dietze, senior in biology and mountaineering and climbing club trip coordinator, spoke about how the mountaineering and climbing club incorporates sustainability into their climbing trips, especially when camping.

 “We always carpool to limit carbon emissions, stick to trails and repel down walls to decrease our outdoor tread on the environment,” Dietze said. “We use all of our own gear and everything we take in, we take out.”

The mountaineering and climbing club helps reduce waste by using old climbing rope in crafts such as bracelets, dog leashes and rugs.

“Sustainability is really important to me and I wanted to come to see what other people were involved in and what sustainability means to them,” said Beth Heckmann, a sophomore in environmental science.

The event brought new ideas and discussions regarding sustainability within both the organizations and attendees.

“We want to inform people and get people to have conversations,” said Costas Hatzipavlides, a senior majoring in agronomy and a soil and water conservation club membership officer. “We’ve talked to people who leave learning something as well as those that come over already being very knowledgeable.”

The 10th annual Sustainability Symposium encouraged students and faculty to commit to taking care of our world through a variety of actions.

 “The earth won’t be here forever, so we have the responsibility to take care of it,” said Rachel Hettinger, a senior in marketing.