(CU Independent illustration/Kelly Kaoudis)
Cheap beer, free clothes, hikes and games are just some of the perks of Earth Day in Boulder this year.
“This Friday is just about having fun,” said Sarah Dawn Haynes, a programs assistant for the CU Environmental Center.
The fun will take place at the UMC Fountain between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Friday. Collaboration between student groups and organizations, including 180*11, CU Slow Food and CU Recycling has coordinated activities including a 5K run, shot put and several giveaways.
“Students know that there are a lot of hard things happening,” Haynes said. “I think when you study this it’s also important to celebrate all the great things that are happening: The solutions, achievements and changes that we have been able to make.”
For Haynes, one highly anticipated Earth Day event is the Really Really Free Market hosted by CU’s 180*11. Community members are invited to bring their unwanted clothes and other items to the market and leave with whatever they please.
“The Really Really Free Market helps redefine reusing,” Haynes said. “It helps people understand that mentality of giving stuff away and not throwing it away.”
Maya Dank, a 22-year-old alum with a degree in sociology and member of the 180*11 student group, said the Really Really Free Market came to CU-Boulder for the first time in December of 2008. This year’s market is in collaboration with the Indigenous Support Network.
“The idea is that we’re creating a gift economy space,” Dank said. “Nothing is for sale, no money is exchanged and there is no barter or trade. We’re celebrating the abundance of resources we have when we all cooperate.”
Elizabeth Ordaz, a 21-year-old senior international affairs major and also a member of the group, said that while the Really Really Free Market fits in well with Earth Day’s purpose, she has some issues with the celebration.
“One of the flaws of Earth Day is that it kind of elevates the issue to just be addressed on one particular day,” Ordaz said. “It’s kind of cliché to say that Earth Day should be every day, but I think it’s about normalizing these things that we’re trying to address about consumption and the resources that we use and exploit in this country.”
Outside of the campus events, there are several community celebrations on Friday as well.
Edie Stone of the Om Time Yoga Studio is hosting a workshop about Peruvian shamanism and Celtic traditions in the evening. USGS geologist Pete Modreski is leading a late afternoon hike up South Table Mountain. Boulder Theater is hosting the 19th annual Microbreweries for the Environment benefit, where 19 Colorado microbreweries will be serving several brews for $2 each.
Other activities include a celebration at the Center for ReSource Conservation and a sustainability conference at the Woodbine Ecology Center.
For further information on all of these events, visit the Environment Center calendar.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Emma Castleberry at Emma.castleberry@colorado.edu.
