Bicycle Kitchen
Spokesperson: Katie MacKenzie
The Bicycle Kitchen’s most direct mission is to provide Smith Collegewith bicycle rentals and bike maintenance education. More broadly, we see the Bicycle Kitchen as a forum for providing a form of environmentally friendly transportation and promoting bike love in all aspects. The Bicycle Kitchen is located in the basement of the gym, past the pool entrance.
BikeFixing began October 2 and happens every Friday 4-6.
We help people learn how to fix their own bikes so that students do not have to rely on bike maintenance
services. Common problems include, but are not limited to; flat tire repairs, chain cleaning, breaks,
shifting, and general bike cleaning.
We also plan on hosting more formal workshops this semester. Topics will include how to ride a bike,
how to change a flat, etc. We are also hosting group rides around the valley. Anyone interested
in Bike Kitchen should come to fixing Fridays 4-6 p.m. or email me at bikes@smith.edu
Green Team
President: Emma Wade
Green Team is off to a fantastic start! Green Team is the action arm of the Smith College Committee on Sustainability, We are a coalition of faculty, staff, and students dedicated to implementing sustainable initiatives at Smith. If you want to be part of Smith’s green story, we welcome you to join us for lunch every other Thursday! Thus far, we have brainstormed needs on campus, broken up into Action Groups according to our brainstormed initiatives, and begin to set them in motion. The Action Groups are as follows: Transparency/PR, Campaigning and Events, Green Power Dedication, Dining, Transportation, and Waste and Consumption. Meetings are held every other Thursday in Campus Center 102.
Engineers for a Sustainable World - Smith Chapter
President: Sanita Dhaubanjar
The Smith Chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World was founded in 2005 and has since worked
on projects both on campus and in the surrounding community. We seek to bring together students
from different backgrounds and majors to work on projects that can make a positive difference in
the local community and raise environmental consciousness within Smith College and the surrounding
community.
This year we are working on a few projects on campus, including the solar energy assessment plan
and the college hall energy audit (in collaboration with the Green Team). We are also working on
an off-campus project with the Elbow Room Cafe to find a way to treat the exhaust from the bean
roasting process. If you are interested in learning more about our organization or projects, do contact
us.
You can also visit our blog to find out about
what we are doing. Join us; we welcome students from all majors!
Global Action Against Poverty (GAAPE)
President: Himani Aggarwal
Global Action Against Poverty Everywhere (GAAPE) raises awareness throughout the campus and community on the topic of extreme global poverty and the many subsequent issues which arise from the examination of poverty in a holistic manner. These include health issues, access to clean water and sanitation, education, women's empowerment, etc. We also raise funds for various nonprofit organizations working toward a more developed world.
This year, we sponsored a Human Rights Coffeehouse, where students learned about the food situation in Amherst and Haiti. We are also collaborating with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Permaculture Committee, responsible for the transforming the ¼ acre grass landscape into a productive and low maintenance garden in our efforts to raise awareness about environmental issues and provide community service opportunities to students in the Five-College community. In November, we will also be making notepads from recycled paper, which will be donated to the Literacy Project located in downtown Northampton. For more information on events and membership, please email gaape@smtih.edu
Smith College Community Garden
Contact: Angela Oliverio
The Smith College Community Garden works a plot of land behind the Academy of Music to grow
raised bed produce. Throughout the summer students raise arugula, red oak leaf lettuce, radishes,
kale, herbs, beets, carrots and much more! They have a lot of fun projects this year and would
love for you to get involved! Weekly meetings are held in the Campus Center, usually room 103 or
104, at 7 p.m. on Thursdays.
Students for Social Justice and Institutional Change
Contact: Anne Watanabe
Students for Social Justice and Institutional Change is a non-hierarchical umbrella social justice organization at Smith with working groups for a variety of social justice issues. Working groups for the 2010-2011 year include: Queers and Allies, Economic Justice, Free Thinkers (Secular/Non-religious student alliance), the School of Americas Watch, White Students Confronting Racism, and Environmental Justice/Mountaintop Removal. People are always welcome to join existing working groups or propose new ones!
Some upcoming events that are being planned include: a trip to the School of Americas vigil in Georgia, a mountaintop justice awareness month, a workshop with Davey Shlasko from Think Again training, and more!
