October 6, 1998

Lara Souza
Staff Writer

It was about 3 a.m. on a week night and Brian was pretty tired.  He had worked hard all day; spray painting recycling bins was starting to get old.

Without expecting it, a funky feeling took over him and he became delirious.

Brian had been around paint fumes for a good while and a weird sensation invaded his body.

Brian thought to himself, “It would be really neat to climb into one of those bins and take some pictures from there.”

And so he did.

Getting out of the bin, however, proved to be not as easy as jumping in.

Brian tried to move around in it, but nothing seemed to work.  He realized he was stuck and needed help to get out.

Luckily, he wasn’t alone, and some of his friends helped him out of the uncomfortable situation.

About three years ago, senior Brian Revel became a S.A.V.E. (Students Actively Volunteering for the Environment) member.

S.A.V.E. started in the early ‘90s as a class project.  Today, S.A.V.E. has an average of 30-40 regular members, however, non- members also participate in special events held by the organization.

S.A.V.E. is involved in regional and national environmental issues. The negative impact that chip mills have in the southeast is one of S.A.V.E.’s regional involvements.

Revel feels that chip mills do not enhance the economy of communities because they only employ a small number of workers. The mills also clear cut thousands of acres annually which affects the land.

S.A.V.E. works to prevent these types of land degradation.

“S.A.V.E. is involved on the national level by supporting national campaigns against air pollution,” Revel said.

The maintenance of Joyce Kilmer and Table Rock areas are part of S.A.V.E.’s contributions to the Boone community.

Volunteer efforts on campus include sorting papers out from the recycling bins in ASU’s post office.

“S.A.V.E. members volunteer to take all the unrecyclables out of the bins.  You don’t have to be a member to help out.  Just show up at the post office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5 p.m.,  Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. and Fridays at 3 p.m.,” Revel said.

As a coordinator of S.A.V.E., Revel receives information related to environmental problems.  Revel then directs the issue to its specific committee.

The recycling committee deals with recycling events, the chip mill committee works with chip mill related issues and so on.

Each S.A.V.E. member has a goal to reach.  Revel says that by joining a specific committee, members are able to solve conflicts and change things in the Boone community.

“Students can be part of the recycling committee, but it doesn’t mean they have to work with recycling only.  They can volunteer to help out other committees, as well,” Revel said.

Having recycling bins in every dormitory room is one of S.A.V.E.’s most current discussions.

During their last meeting, members assigned representatives to each dorm on campus.

Their job is to present the idea in the dorm meeting and to explain the importance of having these bins in each room.

Student involvement with organizations is essential in order to establish leadership skills.

Being successful in the “real world” requires some leadership experiences.

So don’t sit back and be a follower.  Take advantage of the resources ASU offers to its students.