Paige: Hey, everyone! Molly and I are back with one last recap from our year as Campus and Community Engagement interns!
Molly: It’s been such a great year of planning events, creating engagements on social media and seeing students really dive into sustainability.
Paige: We had blast this year and loved getting to work with The Green Umbrella and Live Green! Team.
Molly: Earth Day was the perfect way to end the year.
Paige: Agreed! If you missed the event, below is a recap from all of the sustainable fun!
The Green Umbrella student organization hosted its 2017 Earth Day Celebration on Friday April 21st. It was a beautiful Friday afternoon on the South Library Lawn. The sun was shining and the sky was blue! The event was attended by over 1200 people!!
This year’s theme was “Earth Day Every Day” and encouraged students to make mindful decisions in their everyday lives. Thirty-seven campus and community organizations came to showcase their sustainable causes. We had several of old friends who are present at our events year after year and we also had a few organizations who were new to our events!!
A few of the new organizations included: Our Hour, Society for Landscape Architects and Network against Human Trafficking. Our Hour was started by two entrepreneurial students who are passionate about business and service. They started a t-shirt company with a twist: for every t-shirt they sell, they volunteer for one hour!! Society of Landscape Architects was hanging out, literally, with a hammock they made themselves and Network against Human Trafficking was educating attendees on resources available to increase awareness about signs of human trafficking and who to contact.
These three organizations are just a few of the MANY fantastic causes that were represented at the event! Students and attendees alike were encouraged to walk around the event and start conversations with organizations or causes that sparked their interest. As we’ve done in the past, the event attendees received “challenge cards” when entering the event and were encouraged to take the event challenge. For each organization they engaged with at the event, they received a check mark on the challenge card. The more organizations they talked to, the more sustainably-minded and messaged prizes they were able to earn! Prizes included: Live Green! Stickers and buttons, Earth Week buttons, reusable and recyclable cutlery sets, reusable and biodegradable herb planters (that included herb seeds to grow), Trees of ISU books and CDs and reusable and recyclable Live Green mugs that could be filled with fruit-infused water provided by ISU Dining!
Before attendees collected their prizes, they also had to make a Live Green! Pledge and commit to some form of sustainability, to complete the Challenge. Pledges included: buying more fair trade products, biking to class, committing more volunteer hours and many more great and creative sustainability practices!
The event would not be possible without the support of our donors. They were instrumental in providing both refreshments and door prizes for the event. Thanks to Insomnia Cookies, Fuji Japanese Steakhouse, Hickory Park and Perkins!
The event was a great opportunity to connect the campus community to sustainable organizations and opportunities throughout Ames and collectively celebrate sustainability together as a community. The event was both the start and a continuation of a sustainable ripple effect in Ames and beyond!
To see our event in action, visit our Facebook Photo Album.
If you would like to participate in future events, either by volunteering or tabling on behalf of an organization, please contact us – Molly at , mkbreen@iastate.edu, or Paige at, paigev@iastate.edu, for more information!
Make sure and stay updated on all things green and sustainable at ISU by:
- visiting our website: www.iastate.edu,
- signing up to receive our monthly newsletter: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSH6R5Eh7qNVoZXzIWgBfhop4hBkw7kbhyhAI2AATCmZuvow/viewform?c=0&w=1
- downloading sustainability events to your calendar: http://www.event.iastate.edu/feeds.php
- and staying connected through all of our social media platforms including Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/isulivegreen/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/ISULiveGreen), Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/isulivegreen/), and of course, WordPress.
Live Green! 