Description of the video:

When I was a little girl, my mom took
me to Yellowstone National Park.
Getting to see all of the things
that mother nature provides for
us, made me realize at a very young age
that having the knowledge also means you
have the responsibility to act.
I knew that I was put on
this planet to help save it.
My favorite thing about working
on sustainability at IUPUI is
I know that I'm able to have a role
in creating the next generation
of environmentally conscious students.
Universities really
are a like living laboratory.
When you implement sustainability
in a university context,
it really demonstrates what it will
look like in a smaller ecosystem.
And then it could potentially
be expanded citywide.
Starting in writing that grant my
freshman year really inspired me that,
no matter who you are on campus,
you can make a difference.
The first grant that I wrote
was a Greening IUPUI grant.
I wanted to pick an installation that
would continue to have an effect for
years to come.
This involved retrofitting 55 of
the University Library's bathrooms
with dual-flow handles.
So, over the course of a year,
it saved a million gallons of water.
Seeing the handles start being installed
with the signage has just been so
meaningful to me because I know that so
many more people are having that daily
interaction with sustainability.
Working as an orientation
leader this summer,
I was with a team of 50 other students.
I was able to give them tips such as these
are what products can be recycled and
these are what aren't.
And even those little tidbits
of knowledge at the end of
this summer people started coming up
to me and saying, since I saw you
carrying reusable straw I bought one and
started carrying it with me.
What makes IUPUI so perfect to start
sustainability initiatives is we're in
that urban context.
We have volunteer sessions in the garden.
So we teach students, faculty and
staff how to grow produce in an urban
setting and that it is possible to have
food that doesn't have a carbon footprint
even in a city the size of Indianapolis.
I've been able to accomplish what I
have so far because I have staff around
me who inspire me to want to inspire other
people through sustainability initiatives.
The little girl spending every summer
out in national parks would be so
proud that I'm the person that I am today.
When I was little walking
through those parks,
I would think it's gonna be
me that's gonna save this.
Looking back on that,
it's gonna be me that saves this.
Every one of us has the power to be
conscious about the decisions we make and
the products we purchase.
We all wanna have a better quality of
life, so why not do it while keeping
in mind what the world will look like for
our future generations?
My name is Amber Greaney,
and this is Inspire IUPUI.