Hello! I am Inja Fric (pronounced FREETZ), a rising senior at North Carolina State University where I study Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. I am a student-athlete at North Carolina State University and a member of the Women’s Golf Team. I learned to play golf in my home country of Slovenia. I love all kinds of sports and, more importantly, everything involved with nature. 

As a child, we were educated in school about sustainability, the ecological and biological production of food and the importance of supporting local agriculture. They taught us many simple and sustainable habits in school like conserving energy by turning off the lights when they aren’t needed and conserving water by turning off the sink when brushing our teeth. We learned how to properly recycle and what waste goes in which color waste bin. These may have only been small things, but when added up amongst all Slovenian students, we were able to make a large impact. Slovenia even has laws that forbid citizens from tossing litter out of the windows of cars. These are just a few of the reasons Slovenia is known as a ‘green’ country, and it’s not because of the amount of trees and nature we have. 

Coming to America

College golf brought me to NC State and when I got to America, I found things to be much different from back home.  I witnessed very little recycling and I would walk into empty rooms where lights would just be left on. People would either toss litter on the ground or throw perfectly recyclable plastics and other useful materials directly into trash cans. 

It’s even worse when college students move out of their dorms. They leave everything behind, from kitchen appliances to unused shampoo bottles, toilet paper, utensils and so on and it all ends up in trash. Then when they move in somewhere else, they fall victim to the vicious cycle of buying replacement appliances and products for the stuff they already had! You just don’t see this type of stuff in Slovenia. 

If you are reading this then you probably understand like I do that the United States has a big cultural problem when it comes to living responsibly and sustainably. Don’t get me wrong, there are many wonderful things about the United States, but unfortunately sustainability just isn’t one of the country’s strongest parts. However, the good news is that there remains plenty of room for improvement. 

Leading Sustainability Efforts as a Student-Athlete

In the spring semester of my freshman year, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, shutting down classes and forcing everyone to go home. In an effort to make a difference in my community and share my passion for sustainability, I remotely joined the NC State student-athlete sustainability group. The group’s leader, who was a graduating senior, appointed me to replace him when he left at the end of the semester. 

During my first year as the leader of the student-athlete sustainability group we achieved my main goal of engaging more student-athletes to join our cause. We meet every month to discuss our Athletic Department sustainability goals and ideas, review takeaways from the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) student-athlete sustainability meetings (which I have also joined and regularly participated in) and connect with the University’s Sustainability Department. Some of the changes we incorporated included adding compost bins in the main athletic facilities where we have snack courts and decreasing the use of single-use plastics, replacing them with compostable utensils and boxes. We’ve proposed many changes to the Athletic Department and we hope many of them get a green light to proceed.

Thanks to the ACC student-athlete sustainability group, I was connected with an organization called EcoAthletes and its founder Lewis Blaustein. Lew has a great vision and the amazing ability to bring athletes who are interested in helping with climate, social and environmental issues together. EcoAthletes is a resourceful group that equips athletes with the right resources, information, inspiration and networking. 

I love being part of this group as there are many successful international athletes who want to make the world a cleaner and better place. We all know we will not be able to play our sports much longer if the climate continues to worsen as drastically as it is. Our golf team has felt the effects of climate change as extreme temperatures, drought, and unexpected weather events have caused our championships and competitions to be postponed or even canceled.

The Opportunity for Golf and the US

As golfers we can feel the effects of climate change happening in real time because we spend so much time outdoors. It has gotten much harder to practice in the summer as the heat waves have become longer and hotter. Winters are also worsening as the impact of rain and snow storms prevent us from playing outside. 

Golf itself faces many challenges now and in the future. From managing water resources to care for the turfgrass during drought-stricken summer months to the issue of waste created from the single-use plastic water bottles used by golfers. There is also an incredible opportunity for big improvement from the golf equipment industry where materials used for equipment designs, manufacturing and packaging can become, at least partially, recyclable or more sustainable. 

We’ve seen a big community push and investment into climate, social, and environmental problems in the United States. If people genuinely care about their community and the people around them, then sustainability should be at the top of their main list of concerns. For in order to live a good life, it’s important we all have a resilient, diverse and thriving environment to spend our free time in and are offered a future with clean water, minimal pollution and good health. It’s what I was raised to believe in Slovenia, and it’s what I’m fighting for here in the United States.