New Student meeting went great, join us Wednesday!

With frisbees, perfect weather, and more than enough pizza, Sustain Mizzou's new student orientation meeting rocked.

I'm Julia, by the way, the Vice President of Communication for Sustain Mizzou, and I'll be updating the blog most of the time this semester.

These new students have the energy and the interest to make Sustain Mizzou, and thus Mizzou's sustainability, better than ever. Along with our awesome veterans, who helped us pick us aluminum cans at seven in the morning and nine at night, who stood on bales of recyclables in Lowry Mall, who weeded our garden and spread compost, this will be a great semester.

We had about 40 new people at our gathering at the Quad last Wednesday, and I know I had fun, I hope they all did too.

It's always nice to meet a group of people who are excited to be where they are, and who want to do things to make a difference. That's really the basis of Sustain Mizzou.

Our first big project will be Tiger Tailgate Recycling. During TTR (Tiger Tailgate Recycling), our volunteers go around with recycling bags, handing them to tailgaters while teaching them what they can and can't recycle. We also empty the recycling bins that are placed around the outside of the stadium and around tailgating areas. Last year, from the six home games, with the help of our Landscape Services buddies and golf carts, we got over 23 tons of recyclables. Twenty-three tons which would have ended up in the landfill if it hadn't been for our super volunteers.

The first home football game is September 6th, against Southeast Missouri State. TTR will be there, and I'm inviting you and all your friends to come help make the first game our best ever. TTR volunteers meet in our tent right outside the main gate (right to the right if you're coming through the tunnel).

TTR has three shifts for every home game:

• -A few hours before the game. The first shift is fun if you like talking to people and really educating about recycling.
• -A half hour before kickoff. The second shift is fun if you don't mind getting a little dirty and talking to some crazy drunk people.
• -At the start (or end if you're going to the game) of the fourth quarter. The third shift is fun if you like getting dirty and really seeing the effects of our efforts because you get to pick up all the full recycling bags.

Usually people only work one shift, but you might find it's so much fun that you stay for a second or third shift. I know I usually do. Plus there's food, like always. Sustain Mizzou likes to eat, a lot.
If you want to know more about TTR, or sign up for a shift, e-mail John Gardner (jrg7wb@mizzou.edu).

I'm gonna wrap up this blog post, but we have a bunch of other great projects I'll explain when they come up.

Please join us on Wednesday, it's our first general meeting of the year, all our old favorites and new buddies will be there, plus pizza.

What: Sustain Mizzou's first general meeting of the semester
Where: 100 Stewart Hall (behind Memorial Union)
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday Sept 3