Sustainability Club’s weeklong Earth Days present ‘lightheartedness’
Each year, the sustainability club hosts Earth Days to promote sustainable efforts with a week filled with activities.
On Monday, they held the Earth Days fair. In years past, themes of conservation and protecting the planet were used, this year the organization’s theme is lightheartedness to continue to promote sustainable efforts.
The Earth Days festivities started with a fair on Monday. Faith Ireland, co-president of the sustainability club and a first-year sustainability major, said the organization started reaching out to businesses two months ago for their first Earth Days event and as a result there were 21 vendors for the Earth Day fair in the MUC.
“The preparation involved was basically outreaching to local and statewide vendors as far as the people who are mostly involved in sustainable tactics in everyday life or in their business organization,” Ireland said.
In addition to the Earth Day fair, throughout the week there will be a hike, petting zoo, movie showings, bike rides and an event at Spirit Mound.
Ireland said students should be involved in this week’s events in order to experience a shared unity on the planet.
“We all live on the Earth and to have a better place for all of us to be and to make sure that we do have the same natural resources that our kids can enjoy and their kids for a long time is really important,” Ireland said.
By having the Earth Day fair on Monday, Ireland said it was a good way for students to gain interest in sustainable practices.
“We tried to make it as friendly for fellow students as possible, and to spread our message of a more sustainable USD,” Ireland said. “I think it really resonated with students that this is something that is cool and you should be involved and that it doesn’t just help you, it helps your community and the world in itself.”
Meghann Jarchow, chair of the sustainability and environment department, said the theme of lightheartedness comes from bringing the attention of sustainability in a new light for students.
“Sometimes sustainability can seem doom and gloomy even though, as I understand sustainability, it really is something about hope for the future and being a positive thing,” Jarchow said. “But sometimes I think as an environment conservation thing it can seem like there’s all these problems of the world and so hopefully with an approach of adding humor and comedy that that would be a different approach to it.”
The events planned for the week are supposed to highlight student interest and a community feeling are what the events planned are supposed to bring out to those who attend, Jarchow said.
“There are a lot of people at USD and Vermillion that are really interested in environmental conservation. It’s nice to know that you’re a part of a larger community and hopefully to identify ways to get involved,” Jarchow said. “We have a lot of groups that are coming together to help highlight the different ways people can get engaged with sustainable efforts.”
The Vermillion Area Chamber & Development Company (VCDC) is a silver sponsor for the Earth Days fair. Nate Welch, director of the VCDC, said the VCDC is hosting an event called Green Thursday on the Platz.
“It’s down on the Platz. You’ve got music, you have vendors to talk a lot of the missions and the purposes of Earth Day and things that align with that nature,” Welch said.
The VCDC also wants to “help out in any way that we can,” Welch said.
“The investment of Earth Days really is not only the concept of promoting it, but it really is investing in Earth Day itself,” Welch said. “The work they are doing in being able to make sure we are sustaining our community as well as sustaining our natural resources and the message that they promote with that is such an important one.”
Video by Alex Crim for Coyote News.
