Housing, EcoReps, the Residence Hall Association and Care-olina Animal Advocates hosted a vegan potluck called Sustainable Thanksliving Wednesday in the Green Quad Learning Center.
Third-year environmental studies and geography student Tessa Baran said the event this year was different than it has been in the past.
"We're taking the angle of just having a big celebration," Baran said. "Instead of saying, you know, 'You shouldn't have meat for these reasons, it's terrible for the environment,' we're saying, 'We're going to celebrate life instead, Thanksliving.'"
The event featured a completely vegan meal and gave a twist to some traditional Thanksgiving staples. The meal included Tofurky, a tofu turkey substitute, vegan mac and cheese, a vegan cauliflower dressing and several other traditional Thanksgiving dishes done the vegan way.
First-year finance student Hayden Shipley said the event gave him his first real exposure to vegan food.
"My expectations were pretty low," Shipley said. "It was very good. For skipping some vital ingredients, it was very, very good."
At the Beekeeping Club booth, third-year environmental science student Victoria Hill and third-year chemical engineering student Tianni Pierner were making vegan beeswax wraps out of caranuba wax.
"It's a sustainable version of saran wrap or plastic wrap," Hill said. "They're traditionally made with beeswax, which isn't vegan, so we're showcasing an alternative version for people who don't want to use an animal product."
At the Vegan Outreach booth, there were animal virtual reality googles that allowed the viewer to see the meat industry from the animal's perspective.
"[It's] what the meat industry does not want you to see," said Stacy Shepanek, the community outreach manager for Vegan Outreach.
At the EcoReps booth, EcoReps member Paige Pierce was making EcoBricks, a sustainable alternative to bricks made from clay.
"The ecobricks are just water bottles that cleaned out and then stuffed with other un-reusable plastic," Pierce said. "This is using stuff that otherwise could possibly be trash or be pollution or anything, and it's using it for a resource."
Editor's Note: This article was edited to reflect the Residence Hall Association as one of the hosts of this event.