Student groups promote sustainable action amongst students and faculty
The sun shined brightly as though in honor of Earth Day and the Earth Day bazaar at the UMC on Tuesday morning.
Senior Sierra Brashear, an environmental studies major and CU Recycling Outreach member, said she thinks it’s important for earth-friendly groups and organizations to have a presence on Earth Day.
“We want to discourage the idea that Earth Day is just for hippies,” Brashear said.
Three local businesses and several campus organizations had informational booths, green products and freebies to give away to interested students and faculty.
Bobbi Benson, co owner of Peace-Together, an organic, sweat-free t-shirt shop based out of Boulder, said their booth had sold 20 shirts in the first three hours of the bazaar.
“We felt like we had to do something about climate issues instead of complaining all of the time,” Benson said of her reason for starting the t-shirt business.
Many CU students helped organize the different stations at the Earth Day bazaar.
Cha Cha Spinrad, a senior mechanical engineer major, was exemplifying the simplified process of making paper.
By mixing shreds of paper with water in a blender and then laying the puree out to dry, the result was a sort of thicker, textured paper.
“Whoever makes it can take it,” Spinrad said. “We will use the remaining paper at other tabling events otherwise.”
Senior Anna Lieb, an applied math major and director of CU Wildland, said her table was trying to get people interested in wilderness groups that address issues like logging and air and gas pollution.
“We are looking for volunteers to work on these sorts of issues by taking field trips and writing letters to the local and state government to take action,” Lieb said.
Environmental Center Associate Director Marianne Martin said Earth Day campaigns nationwide anticipate two million calls and e-mails today to state representatives to urge leaders to realize how climate issues are becoming a burden for poor communities.
Martin, who was scooping free ice cream for people signing a green pledge to make minor changes in their lives to conserve energy, said “ice cream is a great incentive on a sunny day.”
“People are excited for the freebies we’re giving out and simply that something is going on campus,” Martin said. “It’s this sort of excited energy that makes something happen.”
While Earth-friendly activities happened outside in the sun at the fountain area of the UMC, the Fashion S.W.A.P (Sustainable Women’s Apparel and Paraphernalia) was going on inside.
Senior Amy Harris, an environmental studies major and UCSU sustainability director, said the clothes were donated from friends and sororities in Boulder.
“People can either swap their clothes for other clothes or they can just leave them for someone else to use,” Harris said. “Any extra clothes will be donated to the Boulder Safe House, which is a refuge for battered women.”
Harris said the swap is sustainable because instead of cleaning out your closet and throwing out stuff that you’re not using, things are getting donated. Instead of going to a retail store, which probably operates through a sweat shop, people can save money and establish a new wardrobe, she said.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Heather Koski at heather.koski@colorado.edu
