Author: Isabella Metts

While living in the Greenbelt this year has been amazing, I have recently begun to think about my plans for next year. In the fall semester I am planning to study abroad in Athens, Greece. I hope to take many of the lessons about sustainability that I have learned from living in the Cabins with me to Greece next year. While in Greece, I will have a washer, but no dryer, so I will continue my practice of air drying clothes like I have been doing in the cabins this year. The fact that I won’t have a dryer is a great incentive for me to try to be as sustainable as possible while living in Greece.  Also I am excited to be living in an urban space since this is not something that I have not experienced before. It will be extremely nice to be able to use both walking and public transportation in order to reduce my carbon footprint while abroad. Also the diet in Athens is heavily based on seafood, and since it is so close to the coast this reduces the cost to ship the seafood. This reduces the energy used to ship the food and therefore makes not only the food fresher but also more sustainable. Also Athens, specifically, has a large movement towards sustainability (specifically sustainable food within urban communities) so I am excited to see how much of an impact these efforts actually have on me while I am living within this urban community and how I can involved with them during my stay. I hope that my time in Greece is enlightening and helps me gain a new perspective on sustainability by viewing how it is handled in countries with culture so different than our own.

-Bella Metts

So in case you haven’t noticed, it has been unusually warm in Greenville over the past couple of weeks. This has given everyone a great chance to get outdoors in a time where it typically simply isn’t feasible. With the recent influx of warm weather, I have had a chance to get outside and enjoy the new renovations that have occurred around the lake this past semester. Although the renovations involved draining the lake and making my walk to class a relatively smelly and not aesthetically appealing one, the renovations have already proved worthwhile. The new dam, bridge, and planters have not only improved the aesthetic appeal on campus but have also began to improve the water quality of the lake. The new floating planters in the lake are meant to help clean the lake which will make a big difference in the ecosystem within the lake in the future. On the aesthetic side of the things, both the bridge and dam have drastically altered the area around the lake. It now looks cleaner cut.

-Bella Metts

If you have been in Greenville for more than two days, you have probably heard the phrase “Yeah that Greenville!”. I didn’t truly understand this phrase until I moved to Furman. Since I am from Virginia, I didn’t know a lot about Greenville when I moved here and so I was curious to learn all that I could about Greenville when I started school at Furman. Greenville is one of those places that is truly unique and is one that I have really grown to love during my time at Furman.

Over this past weekend, me and my friends decided to spend a day exploring Greenville. We just drove around exploring and found some new and interesting places in Greenville while doing so. While we were exploring we walked down part of the Swamp Rabbit trail, found a reclaimed skatepark, and visited some of our favorite hangout spots downtown (such as falls park). Just driving around Greenville really helped show me how many interesting parts of Greenville that I had never even seen before. It is really great to live in a place with so many unique opportunities and places. Greenville truly is my home away from home and I am so lucky to be able to go to school in such an awesome place.

Yours Truly,

Bella Metts