{"id":33237,"date":"2017-04-26T08:32:42","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T12:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=33237"},"modified":"2017-04-26T13:01:51","modified_gmt":"2017-04-26T17:01:51","slug":"coalition-climate-justice-urges-simple-commitments-living-sustainable-values","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/coalition-climate-justice-urges-simple-commitments-living-sustainable-values\/","title":{"rendered":"Coalition for Climate Justice urges simple commitments to living out sustainable values"},"content":{"rendered":"

An online pledge, \u201cEMU for a Sustainable Campus<\/a>,\u201d urges the Eastern Mennonite University community to ameliorate climate change \u2013 and provides practical means to do so. The seven-member strong Coalition for Climate Justice, born out of prayer vigils held for the activists at Standing Rock Indian Reservation, sent out the pledge this spring.<\/p>\n

The pledge was initiated and published online by sophomore Austin Sachs. It provides three tiers of commitment, each tier listing six to eight actions to conserve water and energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to get 50 percent of EMU to sign on,\u201d says Sachs. \u201cWe believe that would have a significant impact on our climate, and that it would make a significant statement that EMU is doing more than just saying we\u2019re about sustainability \u2013 we\u2019re actually living it out.\u201d Coalition members compiled the challenges, which range from buying a reusable water bottle to cutting beef completely out of one\u2019s diet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is to commit to any objectives you can take,\u201d says Sachs, noting that the higher the tier of commitment, the greater the positive impact. So far, 76 people have signed.<\/p>\n