A Club for Change
We are a club made up of students and staff passionate about changing the ways of the school community and local population for the better. Explore our previous and current projects below!
Our Projects
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Thrift Store
The thrift store project was created to promote sustainable fashion on campus by giving old clothes and items a second life. As many people move in and out and the seasons change, people often have items they no longer need and don’t know where to take them. Instead of throwing things away, our thrift store makes reusing easy and fun! Our Halloween and Earth Day thrift stores in 2023 were a huge hit — donation boxes overflowed, and students were thrilled to score amazing thrift finds! Moving ahead, we plan to donate any remaining items to people in need outside of campus, spreading our impact beyond DKU. We are excited to keep this initiative going and to turn this into a much-loved DKU tradition, making sustainability not just a choice but a campus lifestyle!
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Sustainable Living Guide
SThe Kunshan Sustainability Guide was created to help incoming freshmen become acquainted with Kunshan and Shanghai and empower them to make more sustainable choices. The guide provides recommendations by upperclassmen for places to shop, thrift, eat, and explore, as well as information on how to utilize bikes and public transportation. In addition, the guide includes sustainability-related clubs on campus to help students get involved with sustainability on campus.
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Sustainable Film
In collaboration with the DKU Film Society and the DKU Arts & Humanities Centre, the Sustainable Film project aims to raise awareness on current environmental and climate-related issues. Films are carefully selected to hone in and illustrate on a specific sector of ecological issue. Coupled with fundraising and post-panel discussion opportunities, the screenings provide community engagement and helps promote sustainable practices on campus through the lenses of documentary and cinema. Previous screenings include Wall-E, Okja, and KOYAANISQATSI, with fundraising from each film screening going to local NGOs.
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Food Waste Prevention
SDKU’s Food Waste group is working on how to maintain eco-conscious food habits through canteen interventions. As a part of an interdisciplinary school we combine fields like behavioral science in our proposals to further advance both student knowledge and sustainable habits. Working with food waste means being conscious of both our output and our preliminary habits. Through SDKU we hope to continue contributing to Duke Kunshan University’s culture of a clean and green community!
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DKU Sustainability Assessment
The Sustainability Assessment was started by Wynona Curaming and Emerson Meeks together with the faculty from the Department of Natural Sciences and student volunteers from Sustainable DKU. The report was initialized in the Summer of 2022 and published at the Duke International Forum in the Fall of 2023. The report assessed the phase 1 campus’ sustainability in food, waste, energy, water, and air quality, to create the first benchmark of campus sustainability and advocate for a sustainability office at DKU. The report recognized and applauded existing sustainability measures, but recommended more comprehensive data collection, improved data transparency, explicit statements of sustainability goals related to the UN SDGs, and the creation of a sustainability office to oversee such measures.
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One Step Forward
Aims to to provide students with foundational knowledge to start building their future path by hosting Alumni Sessions, organizing Industry Experts Talks and Workshops, and creating a platform with internships, startups, and job opportunities.
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Waste Sorting
Aims to raise awareness about effective waste management by organizing fun and friendly activities, including competitions, lectures, and information sessions, and encouraging the DKU community to take action!
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Sustainable Photos
The project aims to create a gallery and a sustainability guide for the DKU community. We want to highlight existing sustainable and green initiatives in Kunshan, Shanghai, and the DKU campus to foster environmental responsibility.
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Sustainable Ambassadors Program