Robert Drummond had a lot to adjust to when he came to USC for his PhD program from New Zealand, but one unexpected problem was affecting the classics student: One of his favorite pairs of shorts was missing a button, and his rain jacket had a loose button.
When Drummond lived at home, his mother would sew his clothes back together, but now that he lives roughly 6,500 miles away, he had to come up with a new plan.
“It’s time for me to start figuring out all the sewing witchcraft and how to make sense of it,” Drummond said. “Then, I saw that Mend-It Monday was advertised.”
The event ran from noon to 2 p.m. on Monday and included a tutorial from Sustainability Hub volunteers, followed by time to stitch and repair clothes or practice on scraps provided by the hub. It was also one of the kickoff events for USC’s fall 2025 Green Week, which runs until Friday and features various sustainability-related events throughout the week.
With the help of some of the volunteers and roughly 25 other attendees, Drummond was able to fix both items of clothing and said he now feels confident enough to repair clothes at home.
“It was great that everyone was keen to chip in,” Drummond said. “The people learning want to know, ‘how do we do that? I have buttons to fix?’ And other people are like, ‘I know how to do that. Let’s jump in.’”
While some of the other Green Week events are not recurring and will only take place during the week’s festivities, Mend-It Monday will continue taking place at the Sustainability Hub on the third Monday of each month throughout the fall semester.
Haley Miguel, a master’s student studying computer science, attended the Sustainability Hub’s first iteration of the event in May, where she fixed a large hole in her thrifted backpack. The event inspired her to get more involved in Mend-It Monday.
In December, Miguel will lead the sewing-focused event.
While Miguel had always liked repairing clothes as a sustainable practice, she said she learned proper procedure at the event in May, which has allowed her to be more efficient and fix clothes more often.
“Having a space in which you can all mend clothes together makes you more likely to mend the clothes,” Miguel said.
Miguel said the event was an important way to emphasize sustainable practices by teaching students how to fix clothes rather than throwing them away when they have minor breaks.
“I buy clothes maybe once a year, and I’m mad about it, so I would like my clothes to last as long as humanly possible,” Miguel said. “Half our clothes aren’t even that cute. We do not need to be buying them this often.”
Erin Jebavy, marketing specialist at the Office of Sustainability, said Mend-It Monday has evolved since its first version in May to have more specific events each month tailored to different kinds of repairs because of student interest.
“What we heard from folks was more that they wanted some instruction to be like, ‘Well, I have a rip in these pants, but I don’t know how to fix them,’” Jebavy said.
USC began celebrating Green Week in 2021 as a nod to Earth Month — which only comes around in the spring semester — to help new students establish sustainable practices while they are still creating new habits at USC.
“[New students] are setting all their intentions and sort of making new behaviors and new habits,” said Ellen Dux, associate director of sustainability engagement. “We like to lean in at that opportunity.”
There will be more Green Week events throughout the week, including a Sustainability Hub Open House on Wednesday from noon to 2 p.m., where student artists will interpret what a sustainable future would look like and include multiple speakers, according to Dux.
Other events that will occur this week include the following:
- Tune-Up Tuesday will give students a chance to get free repairs on their bikes or skateboards at the Sustainability Hub from noon to 2 p.m.
- On Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., students can bring any electronic waste — including old computers, cell phones and headphones — to the Sustainability Hub to be recycled rather than putting toxins in landfills.
- The Hult Prize, a startup that helps people create businesses with a positive environmental impact, will host an informational talk for the USC branch of its upcoming sustainability-based competition for $1,000 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Grief Launchpad on Thursday.
- The Sustainability Hub will host FreeSCycle Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., where students can receive free recycled items, often from the Department of Public Safety’s lost and found.