With Earth Day coming up on April 22, the University of Idaho Sustainability Center is hosting an entire month of earth-related events for their annual Earth Fest celebration.
During the month of April, the Sustainability Center will host more than 30 events with their 22 on and off-campus partners. Events include healthy cooking classes, yoga in the Arboretum, bike rides, volunteering and other nature-centered activities.
Sustainability Center Program Manager, Ethan Morris, said the Sustainability Center wants to give students the opportunity to interact with their partners and to learn more about a subject they may not know a lot about. He said all the events provide hands-on learning experiences for students and community members.
“The whole goal is to get students and community members in tune with nature and the environment,” Morris said.
He said participants can learn about everything from the impact of their carbon footprint to how other cultures approach sustainability. He said they can also learn how their passions and hobbies can be related to the environment.
“It’s about connecting what people enjoy on a daily basis and attaching a sustainability element to it,” Morris said.
Sustainability and Student Engagement Coordinator, Stevie Steely, said the Earth Fest celebration takes a lot of different angles, but in doing so hopefully hits a lot of student interests.
Grayson Hughbanks | Argonaut
Steely said Earth Fest began in 2008 as a one-week celebration centered around Earth Day, but it slowly grew into the month-long celebration it is now, as the Sustainability Center acquired more partners.
Steely said because the Sustainability Center is student-run, Earth Fest events change each year depending on what the students want.
“Earth Fest kind of morphs as the students do,” she said.
Steely and Morris agree their favorite Earth Fest event is “Bike Fix and Sustainability Showcase.” The event takes place in the Idaho Commons Plaza and features tabling from all of the Sustainability Center’s partners as wells as free bike maintenance.
Steely said the showcase gives students perspective on the number of businesses that practice sustainability in the community. Morris said the event is powerful because it brings a large group of people together who are passionate about sustainability.
Morris, a junior at UI, formed his relationship with the Sustainability Center two years ago as a freshman volunteer at a sustainability event. He said after he volunteered, he realized he had done more than just plant trees.
“Getting out to these events and helping the environment has helped me become a better person who opens up to new people and new ideas,” Morris said.
All events during Earth Fest are free, and only a few require sign-ups due to limited space. For most events, people can show up and “get involved just like that,” Morris said. We want students to benefit, whether it’s by making a friend, sparking a new idea or creating a new habit in sustainability, Morris said.
Steely said it’s easy for students to say ‘I’m just here to get a degree,’ but it’s important for students to look at what their impact on the planet is and to be mindful of it. She said the Sustainability Center wants to get people excited and to have people take action in the name of sustainability.
“One of our big goals is to emphasize the environment and our connection with it,” Morris said. “We put a magnifying glass over how we support the environment.”
Morris said he wants students to come out and participate because the events are for them. He said the Sustainability Center wants to do everything they can to help the students and the campus as a whole be more sustainable.
“Earth Fest is all about being positive and learning how we can incorporate sustainability practices into our life at UI,” Steely said. “Hopefully students are able to get in touch with nature and find roots in the Palouse Prairie.”
Jordan Willson can be reached at [email protected]