Earth Week with Cal Poly’s Green Campus
From events surrounding education on sustainability and other environmentally conscious habits, Cal Poly Green Campus celebrated its annual Earth Week this year from April 17-26.
The events were put on in collaboration with various sustainability clubs and organizations on campus with the goals of educating on environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainability.
The week unofficially started on Sunday, April 14, when volunteers painted the ‘P’ green and blue with secondhand paint to signify Earth Week’s beginning and limit their waste production. The official kick-off happened on April 17 on dexter lawn. Many clubs held booths to spread information and pass out stickers and merchandise, which were either produced on campus or purchased from small businesses.
At the entrance of the kick-off fair was the Green Campus booth where members helped inform about the event and its goals.
“Today we’ve just been trying to encourage students to engage with campus clubs and community organizations to learn more about each of those groups’ initiatives and what they do that helps the Earth or appreciates the Earth,” Environmental Management and Protection senior and Green Campus member Fiona Reyes said. “And then we’ve also been giving out goodies, make it a little more exciting.”
Event attendees could walk around the lawn and collect hand stamps at each club visited then exchange them for prizes at the Green Campus booth. In addition, sustainability themed trivia was at the booth, where players could spin a wheel marked with various questions and win a prize if answered correctly.
Cal Poly Surfrider was in attendance in hopes to spread information about its club and advertise for its Make Waves Film Festival. The festival is an annual Earth Week event hosted in the plant conservatory on campus where environmentally themed films are screened and all profits are donated. According to Surfrider Event Lead Grace Bender, this year Make Waves raised a total of around $1,800.
Additionally to visibility and education events, throughout the week Green Campus also held events focusing on the more economic and social lenses of climate change. This included talks on environmentally focused career paths and climate change from an indigenous perspective.
Small Island Big Song was held in the PAC and featured cultures of the Pacific and Indian Oceans addressing the climate crisis through a contemporary musical statement. According to the event description, this included blended elements of roots-reggae, RnB, folk and spoken-word, while allowing the artists to maintain their cultural voice.
More information and future events for Green Campus can be found on its website.
