By Kelsey Lyles, Communication Intern
Meet Maria Jones, a woman of many talents and passions: an
amateur photographer, artist, blogger, singer, plant-lover, and advocate of
taking care of our planet. We are thrilled that Maria Jones is our new
sustainability coordinator at the University YMCA. Maria came to the University
of Illinois from India two and a half years ago and is now an MBA student.
Coming from a “so-called Third World country” (in the words of Maria), she says
her outlook was changed when she realized that even the United States deals
with issues of racism, poverty, and environmental concerns. She has been
passionate about the planet since she was a little girl, raised in a family
where “reduce, reuse, recycle” was part of her daily life. Maria hopes to
inspire more people to live out this concept, starting with her role as
sustainability coordinator at the University YMCA.
For Maria, sustainability is an ongoing process that
involves three intertwined parts: people, planet, and prosperity. “One cannot
stand without the other,” she says. She explains that by caring for the people,
you can care for the planet, but without money (prosperity) this is not
possible. Maria did not always think this way; she admits that she has never
been a money-oriented person. In a class she took at Illinois, she was able to
work with non-profit organizations in Champaign on a plan to reuse a brown
field, which is a piece of contaminated land. She gained knowledge and
understanding that with a tangible business plan, sustainability ideas are more
likely to be implemented by the community. Maria encourages others to put plans
into action by not only activism, but with a solid business plan.
Maria is putting her knowledge to practice as the leader of
the sustainability committee, comprised of community members, professors,
students, and one of the founders of the Illinois Green Business Association
(IGBA). Their goal is to make the University YMCA a sustainable place, both the
building and the organization. Currently they are developing a climate action
plan based on the model of the Illinois Climate Action Plan. The group is
aiming at net zero carbon emissions. “We are not limiting ourselves; we are
setting high goals and see sustainability as more of a journey than a
destination. Obtaining the IGBA certification, Energy Star, and the LEED
certification are all stepping stones to getting to our main goal of net zero
carbon emissions,” she says.
Apart from the climate action plan, Maria is working with
certain student groups such as Students for Environmental Concerns (SECs) and a
LINC class. With SECs, she mentors a group of students who are working on
improving energy efficiency in low income communities. Her LINC class is in the
initial stages of an urban agriculture project. Maria is an outstanding leader
to these groups and the community. She encourages students to get involved with
SECs and hopes to involve as many people as possible in the climate action plan.
In looking at the impact of climate change that is happening slowly in front of
us, Maria says it is critical to evaluate the past and change the mindsets that
have brought the world to its present condition. She hopes to create an
understanding among the Champaign-Urbana community that sustainability is not a
goal as much as a journey and a mindset. “Today we can find a way to be more
energy efficient, but tomorrow there will be another thing we need to change.”
We can all learn from Maria’s knowledge and passion for the
environment. She believes that students are the next leaders of our world and urges
students who want to make a change to start with themselves. “You can’t change
the world if you don’t change yourself first. It starts with us.”
