Sustain Mizzou selected six students to live in a sustainable, environmentally-friendly house the groups calls “Sustainahouse” starting in the fall.
The Sustainahouse board of directors chose Monica Everet, Kat Seal, Henry Hellmuth, Li Tang, Sally Waldman and co-project leader Claire Friedrichsen as the first residents to live in the house.
The application called for a group of students from diverse backgrounds that would be willing to live in an experimental atmosphere.
“I think it is a really great opportunity because people need to be able to see that you can live in a sustainable manner without changing your lifestyle,” co-project leader Briney Bischof said.
Five of the six residents, excluding Waldman, are members of Sustain Mizzou. Friedrichsen became passionate about the idea of a sustainable house in November of 2009, but did not develop a proposal until this year. When Friedrichsen and Bischof presented the idea of Sustainahouse to Sustain Mizzou, the group responded with great interest, Bishchof said.
“We went through a couple avenues and finally we decided to just rent a house on our own,” she said. “That was the easiest way to get it started in the first place.”
Sustainahouse is not affiliated with MU, but Bischof said she hopes Sustainahouse will lead to more sustainable housing in the future. Sustianahouse has many goals, but the foremost is education, she said.
“It is to show people that you can live sustainably, but it is also to provide people a community so that they can reach their goals to live sustainably,” she said.
Hellmuth, Sustain Mizzou Vice President of Administration, said he is excited to live with people from different majors.
“There really aren’t any sustainability living options through the university or any clubs, and sustainability is obviously very important for conserving energy,” Hellmuth said. “I am mainly just looking to live with a group of students who are all likeminded, motivated in sustainability and have good communication.”
The six students have collaborated on calling realtors and presenting their idea to local landlords. They are hopeful about living in a house on College Avenue, but Hellmuth said risk assessments and parent guarantees will delay the decision at least a week.
Some of Hellmuth and Seal’s ideas include keeping chickens and bees, composting, recycling, insulating water heaters, implementing water saving technology and installing energy-monitoring technology.
“I like all the people living in Sustainahouse because they have projects ideas already and that is what is going to keep it going, their interest and their enthusiasm,” Bischof said.
Once in the house, each resident will have a house responsibility. Responsibilities will include waste management, food and gardening and educational tours. But Sustain Mizzou Secretary Kat Seal said Sustainahouse is an experiment for everyone.
“Everyone that is committing to living in Sustainahouse is committing to a year of research and hard work,” Seal said. “Essentially, we are hoping it isn’t just for the residents. It is a community house for Mizzou and Sustain Mizzou, so people can come by and see how it is done and hang out.”
