With just a few weeks left in the entire semester, consider carving out some time in your schedule and taking advantage of upcoming Earth Day events held on Colgate University’s campus. Colgate’s Office of Sustainability launched its 13 Days of Green series Thursday, April 9, with an outdoor event on the academic quad bringing together students, faculty and campus partners ahead of Earth Day.
Faculty and students proudly represented campus partners to share their passion for keeping Earth beautiful. Julia Forrester, a current first-year student and leader of the Green Earth Gang, a Colgate organization, shared how the club participated in the event.
“Green Earth Gang [hosted] an environmental sustainability trivia table where the winner [received] a small succulent. We hope this will be a fun and rewarding way to engage with sustainability and raise awareness around campus,” Forrester said.
Forrester further shared her values on maintaining a positive relationship with the environment and the club’s initiatives for promoting sustainability. She analyzed the environment’s role in contributing to our everyday health and overall well-being, and how natural resources are crucial to maintain. Forrester pointed out how humans are currently the leading threat to our planet.
“If we continue to treat the environment like we have on the scale that we have, we will expend all of our natural resources before they have the chance to naturally replenish themselves, throwing the world out of balance — a balance which is, as I said, imperative to our longevity,” Forrester said.
Forrester discussed how Green Earth Gang works with younger groups of students every week to teach them about the value of learning about sustainability, so they can get a head start on contributing to their environment and maintaining a positive relationship with nature.
Beth Roy, manager of Colgate’s Community Garden, shared how the garden is participating in 13 Days of Green through various events. More specifically, Roy shared about the garden’s persistent work towards valuing environmental sustainability, in particular towards recognizing the environmental impacts of wasting food.
“We encourage local food consumption, food scraps recycling and the importance of maintaining healthy soil so that plants can thrive. It is a wonderful place of interaction and community, and really encourages students to think about where their food comes from,” Roy said.
Roy expressed the importance of reciprocity with the environment, asserting how it was crucial to encourage students of all ages to acknowledge their place in the world. Our communities, big or small, can make small changes in daily choices to benefit the planet, Roy explained.
Cam Burke, assistant director of wellness protection at Colgate’s Shaw Wellness Center, shared about the center’s participation in the event. Burke explained how Shaw prioritizes environmental wellness for students, and its importance to wellbeing for both individuals and the planet as a whole.
“Our partners at the Office for Sustainability and the Community Garden are distributing seed pencils to spark creative connections to green spaces. Once the pencil has been sharpened down to a short stub, simply place the seed‑cap end into soil, keep it watered and soon you’ll have basil growing,” Burke said.
The 13 Days of Green series continues through April 22 — Earth Day — with additional events hosted by campus partners across Colgate’s campus.
