The USC Sustainability Hub today held its inaugural celebration for International Polar Bear Day. The event was filled with eager students, delicious ice cream with various toppings and a life-sized polar bear.
The Hub, a “waste-free zone,” was eager to host and celebrate this event due to the presence of its very own polar bear mascot, Stan.
Stan was created by Roski student Andy Johnson last year as part of his senior thesis. Johnson collected all of his trash for a whole year, which weighed about 1,500 pounds — both the weight of an adult male polar bear and the average amount of trash an American throws away in a year.
“You can see why it was so obvious that Stan would find a home here in the sustainability hub, and people really gravitate to him,” said Ellen Dux, USC’s associate director of sustainability.
Dux said she was thrilled to see the new faces of students she does not usually see in the Hub. Next to Stan, students were lined up for the ice cream bar where “you can eat the ice cream cone or you can put it in a reusable bowl, but you’re definitely not going to get it in a little plastic cup,” Dux laughed.
This event broadened both the reach and the awareness of the sustainability hub, and sustainability on campus in general.
Graduate student Julian Cornejo is a President’s Sustainability Internship Program (PSIP) Sustainability Hub intern at USC. He said the space was an inviting place to hang out and meet new people.
“If you want to just be with a friend, connect and hang out, you also don’t need to be involved in sustainability,” Cornejo said.
The event also brought in students from a local elementary school for a field trip, in spirit of the space’s openness.
Master’s student Elisa Xia said she was a big fan of Stan, and was excited for future events at The Sustainability Hub.
“We have so many other events coming up, including Tommy’s closet,” she said. “So we’re excited to have more people get to know The Hub and have them come here and visit.”