Sustainability - Green Notes

Our second annual March Water Week Creative Writing Contest was a complete success! We love this annual event because it allows us to apply sustainability to different departments on campus. Sustainability can be integrated in to the lifestyle of everybody, and we believe that this creative writing contest demonstrates that! Below, you will find our first, second, and third place winners (they are pretty amazing)! We want to extend our gratitude to everyone who participated and to the English Department for assisting in the judging process. 

 

1st Place - Hannah Cook - "A Roar"

Water often slinks around,

In and around outside.

And every now and again,

You will hear its mighty roar.

You hear it around twists and bends,

As it walks,

The dirt slowly fades away,

It leaves trails and marked territories.

A leftover from the past,

A roar that lasts a lifetime,

Or maybe less.

 

To see such a creature as mighty as water,

Is to see a lion,

With its young close behind.

Protecting its home,

Providing a way of life.

A mighty roar, 

One that invokes primal instincts. 

It shows strength, 

A roar that intimidates,

And doesn’t stop for anything. 

 

2nd Place - Shannon Long - "Water: An Unappreciated Hero"

The world has conflicted feelings about me. When I come from the sky, I am hated. However, when I fill someone’s glass, I am adored. Sometimes, I feel like I am not appreciated. It is my duty to rain and bless the earth with my nourishment and care, yet when I do, people hide from me under shelter, curse at me while driving their cars, and even cancel plans because of my presence. It’s hard for me to understand what I am doing wrong whenever I leak from the sky. I feel as if humans would be happier if I didn’t exist at all.

Then, I remember that without me, life would cease to exist. Without me, there would be no humans. I fuel them, nourish them, and am a part of every one of them. In each human on this beautiful earth, there is 60% of me inside of them, but they still curse at me for making the roads wet and the dirt muddy. However, whenever they go to the beach, their eyes light up with joy when they see me. They swim in me, sail on me, and even write songs about me as my waves crash on the beachy shore. I house animals such as fish, whales, crabs, shrimp, turtles, sharks, and other microorganisms. I am home for many, and many are a home for me. I always take good care of each biological creature I live within. I wish humans took care of me with the same amount of care and love.

The amount of damage I receive each day is unbelievable. In the world, approximately 8 million pieces of plastic soil my oceanic beauty every day. It’s hard for me to comprehend why I am mistreated by humans. I provide them and the rest of the earth life. I rain to create greenery. I am the reason there are giant sequoia trees and rose bouquets. I am the streams, rivers, and oceans that are seen in nature catalogs. I am the lakes that fisherman catch bass in. I am the creeks that children play in. I am the reason for the rainbows that are seen in the sky. I surround all living things and am the reason for so much happiness in the world. I only wish humans didn’t take my presence for granted. 

So why must they pollute my waters with plastic waste? Why must they curse at me while I do my job of nourishing the soil and earth? All I ask is for appreciation. All I wish is for the pollution and waste to stop. I may not be alive, but I am the source of all life. Without me, there will be no life. So, I ask all humans to please think of it this way, if my feelings are meaningless to you because I am a nonliving being, at least know that whenever you harm me, you are harming the entire world in the process.  

 

3rd Place - Michele Lee Niec - "Sustainability" 

Shifting waves of morning fog
Under the early sky of dawn
Shallows gift life to the banks of a new day
Transparent pools of blue and green
A whisper of never ending ripples while
Impressions of falling rain dance to its rhythm
Nature’s sustaining life force -
A fountain for the world
Beneath the surface of tranquility -
Intricate landscapes of complex shadows
Living, breathing, ebbing, flowing
Ignorance and complacency puddle among us
Tears cannot replenish the progressive sands
Yesteryears’ ways can be no more

 

Follow us on social media to make sure that you do not miss out on this contest next year! 

Instagram & Twitter: @TNTechEcoEagles

Facebook: TTU Sustainable Campus Committee