St Petersburg/Gibbs Campus

Michael Westcott, President
Jabe Breland, Faculty Advisor

Earth Day
For the 2009 Earth Day celebration, the St. Petersburg/Gibbs campus "Friends of Florida Environmental Club" served free smoothies and  a build your own salad bar. Representatives from Pinellas County Utilities Recycling, Pinellas County Extension/Florida Yards and Neighborhoods, Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) and the Sierra Club were on hand to educate students on the environmental benefits of recycling, locally appropriate landscaping and pest control, litter removal and prevention, mass public transit and environmentalism.

Pinellas Living Green Expo
SPC was a presenting sponsor of the 2009 Pinellas Living Green Expo and the "Friends of Florida Environmental Club" provided critical volunteer support to the sustainable | SPC information booth.

The Pinellas Living Green Expo is a family-friendly educational event focusing on resource conservation and provides real solutions for people to live better, healthier lives with less impact on the environment.

Coastal Cleanups
The club has participated in coastal cleanups with Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Tampa Bay Watch, and Ocean Conservancy. The club contributed to a worldwide effort, which removed 6.8 million pounds of garbage from our ocean during International Coastal Cleanup Day last year. Over 11.4 million items were removed from, or kept from entering, the ocean during Ocean Conservancy's 2008 Cleanup.

Native Tree Plantings, Invasive Species Removal
The removal of invasive species of plants is an issue of special environmental concern and the club has assisted in the removal of exotics at several local parks in the area. Celebratory native or indigenous tree plantings followed with over 200 species placed in one location.

Looking to the future
Friends of Florida Environmental Club has scheduled an environmental lecture series to begin in the fall of 2009 with the first speaker to be from the FWRI. They will be addressing the environmental impacts of sea grasses and red tide in Florida and Tampa Bay.

Check back regularly or join the facebook group for more information.

For more information contact Professor Jabe Breland at (727) 341-4374 or breland.jabe@spcollege.edu.