Eliza Calvin
Connector Contributor

Environmental awareness has expanded beyond the classroom, into the college community and the city of Lowell. The Student Environmental Alliance, or SEA, is a UMass Lowell club dedicated to promoting awareness and innovating ideas on campus and in the city of Lowell. The SEA’s president, Alicia Melvin, said she is committed to the cultivation of these ideas. With the efforts of fellow UMass students and faculty, Melvin has organized many programs and events.

Last year, the SEA began a garden on East Campus. This spring, the garden project continues. “We have a huge variety of crops. Last summer, I didn’t have to buy a single vegetable [from a market],” said Melvin.

On March 26, the group will hold an event on South Campus, providing students the opportunity to plant seedlings which will then be transported to their permanent home in the garden on East Campus. A plaque will be erected with all participating students’ names.

The garden is also a lesson in local sustainability.  The SEA is working with the RecycleMania program, and its founders Kelly Rusch and Tiffany Blake, in initiating a composting program.
The program takes food waste from Fox Hall, the biggest dining hall on campus, and turns it into compost. Melvin said she thinks it will be especially beneficial for students living on campus. “Students can see the full cycle of their food: composted, going into the garden, and then creating more food,” Melvin said.

The SEA is hoping to expand on a global scale. On March 27, at 4:30 p.m., there will be a World Climate Games Session, produced by UMass’s Climate Change Initiative.

“It’s run in the style of the United Nations and will show how difficult it is to explore climate change options in real world settings. [It] gives students a chance to talk out climate change ideas, especially on a local level,” said Melvin.

To participate, students must register online by March 25 via the Climate Change Initiative’s web site. The exercise will be followed by an informal dinner and discussion.     Participation in the activity is a prerequisite for potentially traveling with the SEA to France in 2015.

In France, the SEA will work with a French program, Cli Mates, which brings about awareness regarding climate change and ideas for sustainable resources. Melvin hopes that UML will be the first school to create a global partnership of this nature in environmental progress.

Melvin said she also looks forward to reinvigorating Lowell’s annual “Beat the Heat” environmental fair. It will be held April 12 on East Campus. While last year’s fair concentrated on climate change, this year it will focus on heat issues, as well as celebrating students who have made terrific environmental strides. UMass Lowell alumnus, Samir EdKamouny, will be there to talk about his innovative program “Green Bikes of Lowell,” a bicycle sharing program which helps provide an alternative to cars.

The SEA has also invited companies Stonyfield Farms and Chipotle to “Beat the Heat.” Stonyfield Farms said it strives to be all organic and humane to animals.

“We want to show that not all corporations are evil,” Melvin said.

Also invited is Fresh Truck, a bus containing a miniature farmer’s market. Operating out of Boston, Fresh Truck services areas which might be lacking in healthful food options.
Additionally, any clubs that would like a table at the fair to showcase their own personal community and environmental activism are welcome to join.

The SEA meets most Mondays at 8 p.m. in the South Campus Starbucks. Melvin worries students are hesitant to join, under the false impression that they must be in an environment-related major. The organization is all inclusive, regardless of major, and encourages students to join and make a difference in their community.