Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition Summit

Roughly 200 students from all around Michigan met here at Central Michigan University this weekend in solidarity. Workshops and service learning projects filled up Saturday, with topics ranging from fighting destruction by fracking and tar sands, to divestment from fossil fuels. Networking opportunities abounded. Thanks to the creativity of those who joined our hands-on project, Campus Grow will have some new art for the Children's Garden.

We were able to send some succulents to new homes. Appreciative students were able to enjoy transplanting whole plants as well as growing new plants via leaves. For planters, we used recycled egg cartons, water bottles, soy milk jugs, and glass jars decorated in paint and fabric.

One great thing about these plants is their ability to grow from their bits and pieces. The undifferentiated cells at the base of the leaves, when plucked from the main plant and pushed slightly into moist soil, eventually grow roots, and then shoots. Sometimes this process takes months, and sometimes the leaves don't survive, but I always feel joy when everything works out.