The Gaining Ground Sustainability Institute of Mississippi is a non-profit organization founded by Michael and Alison Buehler along with a group of sustainably minded individuals in early 2010 .
Current executive director Daniel Doyle said the organization was established to promote sustainability throughout Mississippi by encouraging new projects and supporting existing businesses, organizations, communities and individuals already moving toward sustainable living.
Gaining Ground travels to schools and events across the state teaching sustainable living techniques. The institute also offers internships to college students who are interested in the environment and want hands-on experience.
Interns work four to five days a week learning the skills involved with running a non-profit organization and get hands on experience with projects tailored to their interests.
Beginning this summer and fall, Gaining Ground will be offering an on-farm residential internship to students. Doyle said the developing farm and model for sustainable agriculture and living will be complete with a permaculture garden and solar power.
Casey Odom, applied anthropology graduate student at Mississippi State University, has been interning with Gaining Ground since February. As a graduate intern, he has gardened and helped out with the irrigation system at the developing house.
According to Odom, the process of becoming an intern was relatively easy. He contacted a Gaining Ground board member and after completing a couple of interviews his application was approved by the Gaining Ground board.
Freshman chemical engineering major Bobby Glenn became involved with Gaining Ground and its internship program after building a mobile “Farm on Wheels” with friends the summer after his senior year at the Mississippi School for Math and Science.
Glenn said he and his friends were initially just planning on taking a cross-country senior road trip, but, after analyzing the costs of food, hotels and gas, they decided on an alternative.
“We decided to buy a school bus and convert it to run off of waste and vegetable oil,” he said. “We would sleep and cook in the bus to save money.”
When Glenn returned from the trip, Gaining Ground hired him as its educational outreach intern. His responsibilities include helping with the daily tasks of running a non-profit organization as well as taking the bus to local schools and events to teach about organic agriculture and renewable and clean energy technologies.
In addition to providing an internship program for college students, Gaining Ground has worked closely for over a year with two MSU organizations also dedicated to raising sustainability awareness.
Odom, who is a co-founder of Mississippi Alumni and Students for Sustainability (MASS) and Students for a Sustainable Campus (SSC), said the groups initially received monetary help from Gaining Ground while planning their annual leadership summit, but they now work more closely with the organization. 
Both organizations share a similar purpose of raising awareness on sustainability and promoting clean energy initiatives. The SSC plans events and presentations to inform the campus about ways to be environmentally conscious in addition to working on the Green Fund.
Saturday the SSC is having a Community Garage Sale at the Starkville Community Market beginning at 7 a.m. The group is accepting donations from anyone in the community this afternoon from 5 until 7 at the Boardtown Garden Center.
The money from this fundraiser will go to Earth Week, which will be held April 18 through April 20. Activities during the week will include a sustainable bike tour, an Earth Day fair on Old Main Plaza and much more. Gaining Ground will be working with the SSC during this week to host a three-day environmental film festival.
The SSC will also be remembering the Deepwater Horizon oil spill during Earth Week. A “blackout” will be taking place on campus and around Starkville. The SSC will ask students to wear black and “blackout” their social media with a logo provided.
This hits home to Glenn who discovered his passion for the environment at a very young age by tagging along on fishing, hunting and camping trips with his father in Moss Point, Miss. Fast forward many years later, and he was working with Pascagoula River Audubon Center at the time of the oil spill.
After his work with the PRAC, he was awarded a grant to travel to the Prince Williams Sound Science Center in Alaska to do a case study on the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill. Upon his return he gave a lecture series titled “Oil Spills and their Effect on the Environment.”
These experiences have greatly expanded his love and knowledge for environmentalism and eventually led to his work with Gaining Ground, the SSC and MASS.
When asked about the current status of the Green Fund, Odom said they are currently meeting with MSU President Mark Keenum to decide on the logistics of the fund.
“Just working on hammering out the details on the monetary, on how much (the fund) will get, who will be on the board and how the money can be spent,” he said.
He also said one thing he believes will be really cool about the fund is it will hopefully be formatted in a grant-proposal style.
“Seniors who have to do a proposal can work their proposal around the fund and request money to build a solar panel, bus, etc. that a student as an undergrad can see the process of their idea becoming something on campus,” he said. “It would be valuable for the students and beneficial to MSU.”
As for the future of the SSC, Odom said he hopes the organization will continue to grow and work with the Green Fund to address issues of sustainability on campus. He wants MASS to eventually spread to the nine institutes of higher learning in Mississippi and be a presence across the state.
Doyle, Odom and Glenn all agreed supporting local businesses and just being more conscious of day-to-day activities is very important when trying to live sustainably.
Doyle said what is better for the environment is better for us too and doing simple things such as turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth and the lights when you are not in a room makes a great difference.  He said he also encourages people to be mindful of where their food is coming from.
“You vote with your wallet, so purchase products that are produced responsibly and support something you believe in,” he said. “Life is about more than convenience.”
To learn more about Gaining Ground, email them at [email protected] or visit them online at ggsim.org.