Located in beautiful rural Hamilton, Colgate University is no stranger to the resources that the earth has to offer. With stunning Lake Moraine, beautiful coniferous landscapes and local farms, Hamilton has an abundance of natural resources that remind us why taking care of the planet is so important. Each year, Colgate hosts 13 Days of Green, an appropriately Colgate-esque number of days leading up to Earth Day dedicated to putting on community events that promote sustainability and connections with the natural world.
This year’s events began on April 10 with a kickoff celebration held in the O’Connor Campus Center’s (the Coop) Media Room. While the event was meant to take place on the Academic Quad, the rainy weather meant that the festivities had to be moved inside. Still, dozens of students showed up to the event, which included tabling from groups and organizations such as the Shaw Wellness Institute, Outdoor Education, STEM/Sustainability Career Advisors and the Office of Sustainability. These organizations offered a variety of activities and educational displays such as Shaw Wellness’s floral arrangement activity and Outdoor Education’s table offering the chance to sign up for their training and day trips.
Adding to the festive atmosphere, a student band named Without Walter performed a set in the Coop while various Colgate organizations offered fun interactive activities. Junior Julianna Hallyburton commented on her experience tabling for Shaw Wellness.
“The kickoff was a huge success,” Hallyburton said. “I worked at the Shaw Wellness flower arrangement table, and people could not get enough of it. We were arranging flowers nonstop as the band played amazing music.”
The Office of Sustainability also had Sustainability Representatives (S-Reps) at the event offering information about sustainable practices. First-year Gabrielle Hoffman shared what the event meant to her as an S-Rep.
“As a Colgate student, 13 Days of Green means an opportunity to have fun with my friends in an environmentally conscious way,” Hoffman said. “At the same time, as an S-Rep, it acts as a chance to celebrate and promote sustainability initiatives.”
Composed of first-year and transfer students, the S-Reps work hard throughout the year to develop leadership skills while deepening their understanding of sustainability. With projects such as trivia nights, the Community Garden and speaker panels, 13 Days of Green is just a small part of what these motivated students do. However, the reach of 13 Days of Green is broader than many of their other events because of the university-wide involvement in the sustainability tradition. The event offers S-Reps a chance to show off the initiatives they have been developing throughout the year and generates further campus interest in sustainability.
In addition to their S-Reps, the Office of Sustainability also has student interns throughout the year. Some of these interns, such as sophomore Gaeli Keffer-Scharpf, tabled at the event.
“I am a student intern for the Office of Sustainability and was tabling to promote the Colgate Free Store, a free thrift store under the [Drake Hall] Tunnel that provides students with free clothes, dorm supplies and lots more to help establish a circular economy on campus,” Keffer-Scharpf said.
Keffer-Scharpf also noted how the kickoff event sets the tone for enthusiastic involvement from students who might not regularly attend sustainability events throughout the academic year.
“The event as a whole was a great start to our 13 Days of Green leading up to Earth Day,” Keffer-Scharpf said. “I really love the kickoff event because it brings together different parts of the student body who might not typically be a part of our regular sustainability events throughout the year. The live music, free ice cream and fun environment-themed crafts and giveaways are what draws people in, and I hope that the importance of pushing for sustainability on Colgate’s campus and across the globe is what keeps people coming to the rest of our events.”
With the collaboration of multiple campus organizations, the 13 Days of Green kickoff event was a success that got people excited about sustainability. Once again, the creative strengths of Colgate students proved essential for promoting an important cause. As the end of the semester is slowly approaching, it’s the perfect time to get students excited about getting outdoors in sustainable ways during their summer breaks or as they graduate and can take what they’ve learned about sustainability with them into their professional lives.
