Written by Angelina Fraga

College students today will soon make up the front lines against Earth’s worsening environmental crisis. EDGE (Ecological Decisions for a Global Environment), a club at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), promotes sustainability and environmentally friendly practices on campus and in the broader Chattanooga area. According to Dr. Jodi Caskey, the main faculty advisor for EDGE, the average college student’s environmental awareness remains moldable. The mission is to shape that awareness for a better tomorrow.

EDGE was established as a crisis response. There was a time when smog filled the air of Chattanooga and the lungs of its population. The Tennessee River ran rancid, contaminated with untreated sewage and industrial waste. In 1969, a report released by the federal government’s Department of Health, Education, and Welfare officially named Chattanooga the “worst city in the nation for particulate air pollution.” 

Those trying times led to an environmental revolution in Chattanooga and, subsequently, across the country. The founders of EDGE played a pivotal role in that revolution. In the late 70s, EDGE was established as UTC’s very first environmental club. The founders went on to help create UTC’s environmental science department, further strengthening the existing sustainability community. 

Forty-five years later, Chattanooga’s transformation is one of the greatest green victories in America. This success drew global attention and became the foundation for the city’s title as the first national park city in North America. While Chattanooga’s environmental progress has come a long way, it is critical that the city sustain the work that has preceded it and continue improving its environmental performance. 

EDGE collaborates with local organizations, including Waterways, a nonprofit that aims to improve cities’ water sources. They participate annually in Chattanooga’s River Rescue, collecting dozens of bags of trash at each event. EDGE also coordinated a contract between environmental group New Terra and UTC, and was able to establish a pre-consumer compost system in the school’s dining halls. The club has even held letter-writing campaigns to urge public officials to implement environmental changes. On a smaller scale, EDGE hosts multiple clean-up hikes throughout the semesters. The striking transformations of the sites keep existing members coming back. 

These efforts may seem small in comparison to the larger problem. Looking at the bigger picture can be discouraging. “Having a community that supports each other in these endeavors helps people realize that even though the world around them may feel like it’s crashing down and it seems like nothing can be done, on a UTC level and on a Chattanooga level, there are things we can do to help,” said Annabelle Kelton, president of EDGE.

EDGE makes learning about sustainability enjoyable. The club hosts three to five events open to all students each semester. Their annual Compost-a-Ween event is always a hit. After every Halloween, the club gathers pumpkins for two weeks that would otherwise go to landfills. EDGE brings pumpkins, pizza, warm cider, and smashing devices (bats, golf clubs, etc.), and students break the pumpkins into pieces on Chamberlain Field. By the end, the pumpkins are ready to compost, and everyone has learned a bit about the composting process while having fun.

EDGE has ambitious plans for the future, with the goal of installing raised garden beds on campus. “You could just go outside your dorm and pick a cucumber, go back in and eat it with some ranch dressing,” said Caskey.

EDGE’s goal is to expand the environmentally minded community further. The club hopes to revive UTC’s Green Fee, a tuition fee that was previously revoked and directed to environmental work on campus. As UTC grows, the challenges are increasing. A growing student population at UTC has led to increased waste management challenges. However, without the Green Fee, tackling these challenges is much more difficult. 

“Shape the world you want to live in and raise your kids in,” said Caskey. EDGE works to empower students and combat rampant environmental misinformation. 

Today, several on-campus clubs and organizations share EDGE’s goals. The group offers students the opportunity to open their eyes to the world around them, which begs to be treated with kindness. It doesn’t take just one person here or there; it takes a community to drive real change.