TSU METER Article, October 2005

Tennessee State University Campus News

Community gets more help than expected

At 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning when most TSU students may still be resting from the week before, about 200 students braved a cool fall morning for a campus-wide community cleanup project Oct. 8.

The project was sponsored in part by Earth Matters Tennessee, TSU’s Student Government Association and General Assembly.

The Gateway to Heritage project targeted bridges on Jefferson Street at 12th and 22nd avenues, the Albion Street and 28th Avenue bridge, Jubliee Singers’ Bridge by Fisk University, as well as other locations along Jefferson between eighth and 28th avenues in honor of six people.

“Curly McGruder, Leo Lillard, Sr., Kamau Bakari, Norma White, Anita Orr and Curtis Woodmore are the heroes of Jefferson Street who we dedicated this project to,” said Sizwe Herring, the executive director of Earth Matters.

 

Also, due to a larger turnout than expected, many students wore one glove, extra safety vests were brought in and TSU’s shuttle system help transport some volunteers.

The turnout was so large the clean-up ended earlier than expected.

“I expected about 50 people to show up,” Herring said after the project had concluded. “I would have been prepared if I knew this many people would have come.”

Still some members of the 55 organizations that participated felt more students should have showed up to support the community.

“Whether or not you were in an organization or not, you should have (participated),” said Lytisha Greer, a junior finance and economic major from Denver and member of Sigma Alpha Lambda, national leadership and honor organization. “It’s a campus wide clean-up thing, everybody should have been here. If you go to TSU you should have been here.”

Sigma Alpha Lambda President Tiffany McCrary, a junior biology major from Detroit, echoed the same as Greer, but was still pleased with the outcome.

“It was a beautiful thing to see so many people come out,” McCrary said. “So many (historically Black colleges and universities) don’t do anything to fix up the community around them.”

 

SGA members, as well, expressed several positives of hosting an event such as the community clean-up.

“It promotes unity and betters community awareness,” said Patrick Walker-Reese, freshman class representative-day who majors in history from Nashville.

Keshia Dalcour, sophomore class representative-day, a nursing major from Chicago, said a month of planning went into this event.

“We wanted to get all campus organizations involved in this community-wide clean-up in order to give back to the Nashville community and make others aware of the great need to keep our community clean, which in return betters us as students,” Dalcour said.

The next campus-wide clean-up is scheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 29.•

Metro. Council Presentation February 27, 2001, Metro. Courthouse

Hello, my name is Sizwe Herring and I represent an organization known as EarthMatters Tennessee. EarthMatters was formed in 1995 to represent the transformation of something gross into something green. We emphasize the importance of composting, recycling, and gardening along with ecological action, literacy and education.

aste has become America’s #1 commodity, our gross national product. Each year hundreds of billions of pounds of waste are shuffled around the U.S. as if this were a product, or a "good," the fruit of our industrial waste.

ayor Purcell and the solid waste sub committee have stepped out on faith that we can "apply our intelligence" to this solid waste situation and stop outdated, toxic, pollution spewing, smelly, thermal incineration in Nashville. To top it off, the plant is less than a mile from our new stadium, thousands of fans and multi million dollar athletes. If we had only forward thought this situation in 1998, we would have saved over 40 million dollars.

We can’t go back, but we can go forward!

Urban residents have been consumed with waste.

We stopped and watched as urban sprawl consumed once fertile farmland -

We stopped and watched as international consumer chains consumed local enterprise

We stoppeded as our communities became target markets for strip malls and cheap disposable products -

We stopped and watched as this wasteful consumption resulted in mountains and mountains of garbage.

It is time to quit stopping and GO! The light is GREEN!

We at EarthMatters Tennessee are confidant that we, along with other committed environmental individuals, organizations and businesses, can create a popular and comprehensive, multi-faceted environmental education policy and an aggressive remanufacturing business plan to establish cottage industries, jobs and careers, for Nashville.

The light is green, we must realize that earth truly matters, and not let future generations down.

 

 

An Open Letter to Past, Present and Future EarthMatters

 

In 2006 our “community enterprise” turns 10 years old. We have worked since 1991 with Tennessee’s oldest environmental organization, Recycle! Nashville. We managed the Green Neighborhoods Project and branched into EarthMatters Tennessee in 1996.

 

Like a child, EarthMatters Tennessee was born and has learned to walk, talk, run (and play a lot of dodge ball!). Like most 10 year olds, we’re proud to be able to add that second digit to our age.

 

During this period we have accomplished important goals in building the community’s environmental awareness, action and aptitude. This is evidenced by

  The creation of dozens of gardens and thousands of gardeners

Our giant earth sculptures made by volunteers through our annual “Leaf Lift” composting event.

Experiential outdoor education sessions with neighborhood groups, schools, universities, churches and individuals.

We haven’t stopped there. Over the past few months we’ve invested in

a trailer, bumper and hitch for the truck ($400.00)

a newly redesigned website (www.EarthMattersNetWorks.com) ($300.00)

a new, professionally designed brochure (200.00)

Wood for the stage gables at the Park ($50.00)

a 30’ x 10’ windowed tent ($140.00)

a professional sound board, speakers and amplifier ($200.00)

a chain link pen for our tool bank, to protect our tools and equipment ($200.00)

a new sign (and design) for our newly dubbed “Geo. W. Carver Food Park” to cost $400.00

We are extremely proud of our successes so far, made on behalf of our common environment. We’re running, studying, and plotting a limitless future. However in spite of the enthusiasm and exuberance of youth, growth and development still have certain dependencies.

 

Our health, your health, and the health of the planet are dependent on our ability to SHARE. We want to share our time, experience, and knowledge. The earth wants to share its resources. We need your financial energy and resources to complete this cycle. Our goal, with your assistance, is to protect and promote the life sustaining natural resources of our community for the benefit of all our citizens, including the two-leggeds!

 

With your help we can continue to keep Nashville’s green future at the forefront. Call, send or click for easy and secure, on-line PayPal donations at our new cyber address.

 

 

Sizwe Herring and Board at EarthMatters Tennessee

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