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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Augustana chapter.

The Augustana College Sierra Club has been hard at work this semester promoting a greener campus. The student-run environmental group partners with on-campus clubs and community organizations to host events and natural excursions every semester. This spring has been busy – Sierra Club took part in the Quad Cities Environmental Film Festival (hosted by River Action), hosted the Green Drinks environmental panel with students from Augie and St. Ambrose University’s Green Life club, and collaborated with the Augustana Physics & Engineering Society (APES) to celebrate International Earth Hour!

QC environmental film festival

The Quad Cities Environmental Film Festival is an annual event sponsored by River Action where different environmental groups across the area host films on green topics at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport. Augie’s Sierra Club hosted We the Power, a 40-minute short film about sustainable energy production and use across Europe (linked below), and guest speaker Sarah J. Gardner, the Climate Action Coordinator for Iowa City. The film was both fun and educational, and offered a great opportunity for students to connect with the environmental community off-campus. For more information on the environmental film festival, visit https://www.riveraction.org/filmseries.

Green Drinks

Green Drinks was a new event for this year – a panel of students in Augustana’s Brew by the Slough lounge, discussing environmental activism and issues across campus and outside of it. We were thrilled to have the President and Vice President of St. Ambrose’s Green Life club speak on the panel, as well as members of our Sierra Club and the President of Augie Acres, the campus garden! Students discussed campus recycling habits and the push for composting at dining halls before comparing notes on event ideas and excursions. Of course, it couldn’t be a Green Drinks event without green drinks! Panelists and audience members enjoyed delicious green smoothies as they shared ideas for a more environmentally-friendly future.

person planting a green plant
Photo by Rommel Diaz from Pixabay

Earth Hour

Earth Hour is an international event celebrated annually to raise awareness for energy consumption and conservation. The lights of many landmark buildings around the world – the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the Colosseum – go dark for an hour on April 23rd. In solidarity, APES and the Sierra Club collaborated to bring Earth Hour to Augustana’s campus, shutting off the lights at Old Main (our most iconic building) for an hour and inviting guest speaker Ray Wolf, a beloved Quad Cities meteorologist, to discuss climate change. 

With more to come, this semester at Augie promises a greener future! To keep up with Augie’s Sierra Club, follow @augie.sierraclub on Instagram; more information on upcoming excursions and events will be available soon. St. Ambrose’s Green Life (@saugreenlife), Augie Acres (@augieacres) and APES (@augustana.apes) can all be found on Instagram as well!!

Kaitlin Troha

Augustana '26

Hi! My name is Kaitlin, and I’m a sophomore at Augustana College. I graduated from Wheaton North High School in 2022. I’ve declared a major in environmental science and a minor in Spanish, but I’m still exploring other options like WGSS. Outside of class, I like to rollerblade (which I have yet to attempt on campus), spend time with my friends, listen to music and read from my ever-growing collection of books, both at home and in the library. I also participate in HerCampus Augustana, Sierra Club, and hope to seek out more extracurricular opportunities as I balance my work and school schedules. I’ve been writing for student publications since middle school, so I’ve covered a wide range of topics over the years. My preferred writing topics include books (reviews, new publications, recommendations… everything!), environmental and social activism, and so much more!