On Wednesday, Aug. 27, Auburn University hosted the 2025 edition of the Sustainability Picnic at the Davis Arboretum. With the mission of promoting sustainability, the annual zero-waste event featured free vegetarian food samples, live music and a variety of university organizations for attendees to connect with.
The Sustainability Picnic is an annual event, co-sponsored by the several Auburn organizations, including the Office of Sustainability, the Waste Reduction and Recycling Department and the Auburn College of Forestry. The picnic seeks to involve students with organizations affiliated with sustainability and the environment at Auburn, as well as serve as a place for students to engage with friends and nature.
From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., attendees enjoyed door prizes and free food courtesy of Tiger Dining, with reusable environmentally-friendly utensils and vegetarian samples. Guests were also able to grab a free treat from the on-site, O Town Ice Cream truck. Once checked into the event, students were given a bingo card, which could be completed by interacting with all organizations present at the event. Those who successfully completed their bingo cards were entered into a raffle, with various donated prizes for winners.
Tabling at the event featured a variety of undergraduate, postgraduate and faculty organizations and programs affiliated with sustainability and nature. Students were able to meet with representatives from all co-sponsors of the event, and were able to learn about the sustainability programs offered to students at Auburn. Aubie was also present at the picnic, helping students recycle and have fun with nature.
The Sustainability Picnic was organized and hosted by the Auburn Office of Sustainability, with the mission of helping students enjoy free food and get connected. Lilly Dawson, a junior marketing intern for the Office of Sustainability, helped coordinate the logistical planning over the summer for the picnic.
"This is my first time attending and directing the event, so I'm very pleased," Dawson said. "Everyone has been coming up to us and said it's been really fun. We hope that all the students are aware of the resources we have on campus, because there's so many that have to do with sustainability and the outdoors, all kinds of things in the community. Something like this lays out all the resources on and off campus that they can look to, and all the people they can meet that are interested the same things as them with sustainability."
Representatives from various programs across the Department of Horticulture were also present at the picnic. Graduate research assistant Max Porter represented the department's FoodU program, which allows students to grow localized produce for utilization at Tiger Dining and the Culinary Sciences program.
"FoodU basically serves to put Auburn students to work, growing produce on campus, for campus," Porter said. "[The picnic] has been awesome. We have some freshly cut flowers from our rooftop garden, and I think it's really been drawing people in. We get to tell people we have Auburn students delivering produce to chefs. The program is really unique, really multifaceted. There's a lot going on and there's a lot to be learned."
Auburn Outdoors and Recreational Center both had booths at the picnic, where attendees were able to learn about the variety of outdoor programs offered to Auburn students. Connor Waters, honors student and Auburn Outdoors employee, detailed the organization's efforts at the picnic.
"We have a lot of different trips that we go on," Waters said. "With Auburn Outdoors, our big focus is really community. Whether it's our trips department or at our rock wall, we're really trying to get people together. We're asking people some different outdoor questions and getting to talk about our trips and different areas of where we're working. Everybody is really excited."
Auburn's Sustainability Picnic is one of many events hosted by the Auburn Office of Sustainability each year with the goal of connecting students to sustainability and the environment. More involvement events can be found on their website.
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