Retreat Highlights from the Bag Monster (aka Clean Water Fellow: Roland Bennett)

The 2016 Annual Ohio Sierra Club Retreat has absolutely been one of the highlights of my semester so far. By day I attended workshops to help build my organizing skills, and in the evening I socialzed with other Sierra Club members from around Ohio. To me, the most useful workshop of the weekend was the student session. All of the students were able to come together and share what we have been working on. There were enough of us to break into smaller groups and focus on connecting with others working on similar projects. The session leaders were helpful with giving us advice on how to build our campaigns and accomplish our goals. For example, they explained how organizing a series of events can often be more effective than a single event, as well as the importance of consistency in the time and locaiton of meetings.

It was agreat opportunity to learn how other campuses are working on sustainabilty efforts. I was able to get to know other students from the University of Cincinnati, University of Toledo, Case Western Reserve, and Cleveland State University. The success of other schools, such as UC's Ban the Bag Campaign, is quite motivational. I was even able to put on the Bag Monster costume at one point to emphasize the effect of single use plastic bags. The costume is made of 500 plastic bags, the total amount of plastic bags an individual uses in one year.  Keep an eye out in your town, the Bag Monster may be coming for a visit soon!