A Lovely Gesture

Student-made Valentine's Day cards will benefit Project S.H.A.R.E.

by Christine Baksi

February 6, 2012

Center for Sustainability Education interns Elizabeth Toutain '12 (left) and Danielle Thompson '12 hope the campus community purchases one of many student-made Valentine's Day cards that will benefit Project S.H.A.R.E.

Eco-Reps supervisor Dani Thompson ’12 is an avid environmentalist, known among her friends for biking everywhere, recycling just about everything and, to the astonishment of her Pi Beta Phi sorority sisters, keeping a compost pile in the freezer.

Last fall, the senior environmental-studies major from Boulder, Colo. initiated a campuswide plastic-bag recycling program. This semester, she decided to give used paper products a new purpose: Valentine’s Day cards.

“I imagined turning the recycle symbol into a heart and thought it would be a perfect design for a Valentine’s Day card to give to my friends,” says Thompson. “I even thought of a cute tagline that could go with it—‘My love for you recycles every day.’ The whole thing kind of exploded. There seemed to be no end to the one-liners I could put on the cards,” says Thompson, who shared her idea with Center for Sustainability Education (CSE) interns and her supervisor, CSE assistant director, Lindsey Lyons.

After some brainstorming Thompson and Lyons agreed to donate the proceeds of the cards to Project S.H.A.R.E. during CSE's day of service. "The match up was almost too perfect,” says Thompson.

Beyond “Be mine” 

CSE interns are selling the handmade, student-designed Valentine’s Day cards for a $1 donation and each card can be addressed to a HUB box for Valentine’s Day delivery. The cards have clever punch lines, romantic messages and subtle hints about recycling and conservation.

I wanted to get you a trendy card for Valentine's Day … Wait, "green" is still in, right? 

I love you … If the feeling isn't mutual, please recycle this card. 

Cards will be sold in the HUB on Feb. 7, 9 and 10 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and at CSE in Kaufman Hall from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The interns hope to collect a significant amount for Project S.H.A.R.E., a food and clothing bank in Carlisle.

Have a heart 

Lyons says the Valentine’s Day card project exemplifies creative student leadership initiatives that are associated with the CSE intern program.

“Our program is strong and provides students with opportunities to work on guided projects with us, or on their own initiatives,” says Lyons, who adds that CSE interns also are required to participate in professional-development opportunities, including an annual day of service, which helps to round out the internship experience.

On Tuesday, Feb. 14, interns from CSE, the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) and the College Farm will help distribute food for Project S.H.A.R.E. Lyons, who organized the service day titled, “Have a Heart Volunteer Day,” says she and Sustainability Projects Coordinator Dan Webster were moved by the organization’s mission and the people they serve when they toured Project S.H.A.R.E. in December.

“We want our students in sustainability to realize that more than 1,000 local families  come each month to get the food and baby supplies they need to survive,” says Lyons.