As Dance Marathon 25’s Big Event quickly approaches, the crew members have taken it upon themselves to push new efforts to increase sustainability.

“Dance Marathon 25’s plan for sustainability is to look at every committee and every event in order to find areas where waste can be reduced,” said Jessica Oliver, the group’s sustainability chair. “We are looking to see what is going to the landfill and if there are changes that could be made, such as using tape that can be recycled instead of thrown away. We are also working to be able to track our waste, emissions, and energy use.”

Oliver also noted that Dance Marathon 25 is working with the Sustainability Office and the IMU to get the information of energy use at the Big Event, emissions from the transportation the UI and Dance Marathon has provided, and waste.

This year, the organization will also create the first-ever five-year sustainability plan for Dance Marathon 26-30, Oliver said.

“In past years, there wasn’t much focus on [tracking] our output, but Dance Marathon 24 started to track the energy use at the Big Event,” she said. “By tracking our output, we will be able to easily see our progress as we become more sustainable, which wasn’t easy to do in previous years.”

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Erika Renkes, a member of the sustainability subcommittee, said a lot of the emphasis on sustainability will be pushed in other committees to ensure they are all improving their efforts in the area.

“I want to take all the necessary efforts we possibly can to create a sustainable environment for our organization within reason,” Renkes said. “And I want to use the other amazing committee members on our sustainability subcommittee along with all the other creative ideas that are cycling to create a more sustainable Big Event/organization all year round.”

Audrey Felderman, also a sustainability subcommittee member, said, Shape Your Impact, Dance Marathon’s first-ever campaign that was launched a few weeks ago, will have a lot of participants feeling as though they can make a difference in areas such as sustainability efforts.

“With the Shape Your Impact campaign this year, we want all to feel as though they are making a difference,” Felderman said. “Even if that means joining the sustainability committee, that not only makes a huge impact on the kiddos but also on the planet. It’s important to us that we have feedback from all the dancers with any ideas to help keep us more sustainable.”

She emphasized the importance of the support from the organization to carry out the group’s efforts and have an effect.

“My personal goal is to inspire people to become more sustainable in their daily lives,” Oliver said. “I don’t want the thought of being environmentally friendly to be overwhelming. There are so many simple switches people can make that can make a big impact, using a reusable water bottle instead of a disposable one, bringing a reusable mug when getting coffee, using a cloth bag instead of a plastic one when they’re at the store.”