In the LSE Volunteer Centre, we work with lots of different societies to support their volunteering efforts and raise awareness of the causes they are passionate about. Here, Dimitra Stratopoulou (BSc Mathematics and Economics, 2022 & President of LSESU EcoSoc) & Marina Georgia Stamou (BSc in Politics and Philosophy, 2022 &Secretary of LSESU EcoSoc), stress the need for sustainable action and how their society is working towards a greener tomorrow.
Our planet is in dire need for help. Increasing deforestation, pollution, and a perpetuation of unsustainable habits encouraged by mass consumption have contributed significantly to the exacerbation of climate change. Reversing it completely might not be possible, but we are able to make a significant impact if we cooperate to give rise to a greener tomorrow.
We joined LSESU EcoSoc (Ecological Society) because we are passionate about making perceptible positive change in the environment. This society gives us the tools to influence people’s ideas, their mindset and, potentially, their consumption patterns. It allows members to get in touch with major environmental issues and find ways in which they can collaborate in an entertaining and educational way to fight for a better and more sustainable future.
Our most recent events were the two-part Sustainability Workshop and the Vegan Cooking Challenge. The Sustainability Workshop allowed our members to come up with feasible and creative solutions that could be implemented daily to reduce plastic use, food waste and encourage, overall, a more sustainable lifestyle. The Vegan Challenge provided our members with the opportunity to compete in the creation of vegan recipes. It was fun and educational in the sense that it showed our members that it is relatively easy to adopt a healthy vegan diet.
In the future, we would like to continue to engage with our members in this way because we firmly believe that knowledge is power and can be pivotal in convincing students within our community to be more environmentally friendly. The next event we are planning is a reforestation in collaboration with a non-governmental organisation.
We have decided to organise our next event around the issue of deforestation because it is a major cause of climate change. According to National Geographic, in the past three decades, we have reduced our forests by an area larger than South Africa! Forests are carbon sinks so, when trees are cut down, the CO2 that they store (which is estimated to be around 45% of all land carbon) is released into the atmosphere and contributes to global warming. In light of the fact that deforestation is human-driven and done for the purposes of satisfying mass consumption, we feel as though we are morally obliged to try to organize a reforestation that would, not only inform students on this very grave issue, but also encourage them to actively fight against global warming. Thus, our goal in this event is two-fold: 1) to disseminate important information about the state of our planet and 2) to transform our aforementioned frustration into creative energy and take some steps towards rescuing our planet.
We are looking forward to expanding our community, so we encourage you to join LSESU EcoSoc if you are passionate about the environment and are looking to collaborate with other people who share similar interests and lifestyles!
If Marina & Dimitra have inspired you to volunteer, get in touch with them to find our more or come along to our Take Action: Climate Change event on Friday 13 November. Passionate about another cause and want to share it with the LSE community? Then get in touch with the LSE Volunteer Centre to share your passion on our blog. You can also book a one-to-one with David Coles, the Volunteer Centre Manager if you have more questions. And why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up-to-date with our events and opportunities and read our blog for more volunteering tips and stories.
