Larry Cook says the idea of sustainability comes down to a pretty simple concept: “How can we meet the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs?”

It’s this two-sided goal that Cook approaches everyday as the Director of USC’s Office of Sustainability, a role he’s had for almost six years.

Before joining the office, Cook spent more than seven years as the recycling and waste manager for USC’s Department of Facilities. He says a big part of educating students and community members on the importance of sustainability is viewing things through the lens of waste.

“I like to use waste as a proxy for understanding broader sustainability,” Cook says. “So that naturally goes into my idea of sustainability, which is just avoiding waste at every level."

Cook and his team take this effort to the next level by working toward sustainable practices across the Division of Student Affairs and Academic Support and the university, from housing to catered university events.

Taking sustainability across campus 

Sustainable practices have grown across campus from the founding of the university’s Environmental Advisory Committee in 1999 to the creation of the Sustainable Carolina Garden in 2007 and the office in 2009. Today, Cook and his team work out of Green Quad and advise offices around campus on how they can introduce, promote and support a university-wide commitment to sustainability.

Cook and Associate Director Jessie McNevin say sustainability opportunities are available in every area of the university and connect to every area of study.

“If it helps people or the planet, it's likely a sustainability initiative,” McNevin says. “So there's a lot of people who want to help those areas on campus.

Leading that charge are USC students, Cook says. Incoming classes have shown an increased passion and higher expectations for what sustainability looks like on campus, and those students are the driving force behind a lot of the work happening right now.

“Students are passionate and informed in a way that they never have been before, and so they expect a lot,” Cook says. “They expect the university not just to have an office like ours that can say the right things and do some of them, but they want an institution that’s invested in this and practices what they preach.”

Cook and McNevin work with several student organizations, such as Sustainable Carolina and the recently-launched Food Recovery Network. 

Students in the Sustainable Carolina Leadership Program participate on dedicated project teams, including environmental justice, the zero waste project, k-12 outreach and more. Students at the peer leader level also receive one-on-one coaching focused on the intersection of academics, professional development and sustainability.

New year, renewed excitement

The 2024-2025 year has been a year of firsts for the Office of Sustainability , starting this past August with a new program aimed at getting more students involved in learning and volunteering with the office.

The new the Eco Ambassador Program creates a set of five requirements for students to become an Eco Ambassador and have their name posted to the Sustainability website. The program is a new way to help students get involved and to spur follow-up participation once a student hits one of the criteria.

“With the garden, anybody can show up and volunteer in the garden. It can be a one off, it can be just related to a required community service, or it can turn into something bigger,” Cook says. “You could grow into being an Eco Ambassador. An Eco Ambassador could grow into being a [Sustainable Carolina] team member. But there's no set structure: you can start as a peer leader and be more involved immediately.”

To earn the honor, a student must attend a 101 workshop, volunteer in the garden, attend a discussion workshop, participate in a hands-on workshop and serve in the community.

Since August, 40 students — in more than 15 majors — have achieved Eco Ambassador status, some with the help of the inaugural Student Sustainability Summit. The summit in February offered students the chance to earn up to four of the five requirements in one day.

Food recovery efforts

This year has also marked strong progress for food recovery efforts at USC with the help of Cook, McNevin and a long list of campus partners.

McNevin has taken an active role in the launch of Garnet Bites, including appearing on WIS Primetime in February to promote the program. Garnet Bites sends registered users immediate notifications of available food on campus after a catered event. The program had a successful pilot in the fall and has since rolled out to the larger USC community with more than 150 event planners trained to participate.

There’s also the Food Recovery Network chapter — which rescued about 150 pounds of grapes for the CommUnity Shop earlier this spring. The group received about 700 to 800 pounds of grapes otherwise destined for the landfill from USC’s medical school and managed to save about 20%. The remaining grapes, deemed inedible, were composted on-site to help grow new produce down the line.

Even with a composting system meant more for demonstration and learning, Cook estimates that the office is able to compost about 2 to 3 tons of food waste each year, creating about 6 cubic yards [KW1] of natural fertilizer that goes straight into the Sustainable Carolina Garden.

Rivalry recycling

As the year wraps up, the sustainability team is reminding students that they  have one last opportunity to leave USC’s urban Columbia campus better than they found it in August and earn some school pride in the process.

USC is facing Clemson in a competition to see which school can recycle the most. Both schools have participated in RecycleMania in the past, but this year is one-on-one. Students living on campus are encouraged to take their glass, plastic, paper and cans to the nearest recycling bins while faculty, staff and students commuting from off-campus can bag their recyclables up — or pre-separate them — and bring them to USC.

Green Quad has a comprehensive recycling area on its loading dock with space for aluminum, glass, plastics, paper and mixed bags.
Cook says with the City of Columbia limiting its pickups at multifamily properties, the competition is a great opportunity to support the school and the environment.

When students return to campus in August, the recycling program will be ready to handle the influx of cardboard boxes. But students can also save some of the hassle by donating unwanted items to local businesses or the university’s Give It Up for Good program for future students to use next year.

Click here to read more about sustainable practices you can take part in.