Working toward achieving a more sustainable campus, Waste Watchers, the student volunteer club, will be hosting a Meet ‘n’ Eat tonight to provide students with the opportunity to get to know the organization in a casual manner.

The Meet ‘n’ eat will be held from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Student Experience Center room 206 and will feature free pizza.

“We invite students to join Waste Watchers and attend the Meet ‘n’ Eat if they are interested in volunteering and working toward forming a more sustainable Oregon State University,” Norris said.

Meetings allow participants to plan events which will aid OSU in moving toward a zero waste campus. One of the most prominent events Waste Watchers hosts is the Repair Fair, according to Norris.

“Our goal is to increase awareness and participation of sustainability on campus through education and volunteer opportunities,” said Tyler Coleman, waste projects coordinator for the Student Sustainability Initiative. “We are trying to eventually get our campus to be zero waste.”

Waste Watchers is a collaboration between campus recycling and the Student Sustainability Initiative, and hosts weekly meetings every Monday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Any student is welcome, and weekly attendance is not required. During meetings, participants brainstorm, plan events and have fun together, according to Coleman.

“Volunteers at meetings have the biggest say over what exactly we are going to be focusing on for each event,” Coleman said.

Not only do Waste Watchers meetings allow time for planning and brainstorming, but also provide students with a way to socialize and create relationships, according to Coleman.

“We keep meetings up-beat, and at least once a month we get together outside of the meetings,” Coleman said. “We often form relationships with fellow volunteers and it leads to great friendships.”

“This is our fourth year of regularly hosting Repair Fairs,” Norris said. “Volunteers with fix-it skills come together to repair any broken items students wish to bring. We also teach students how to fix their items for free, which is promoting less waste.”

Along with the Repair Fairs, Waste Watchers will be hosting an event for America Recycles Day, called Beavs Recycle.

“Beavs Recycle is a celebration and demonstration of why people at OSU recycle,” Norris said. “We’ve done photo shoots and interviews with the faces of OSU, asking them why they recycle.”

The group discovered students’ and staff’s answers included a wish to conserve resources, to insure a bright future and to have a healthy planet.

Students wishing to promote having a healthy planet are encouraged to attend The Meet ‘n’ Eat, according to student outreach awssociate for campus recycling Kyle Reed.

“The Meet ‘n’ Eat is a great way to get to know like-minded individuals while learning about Waste Watchers and what we stand for,” Reed said.