Earth Day isn’t just a holiday for tree huggers and environmental studies students ““ or at least it doesn’t have to be.
Earth Day events will be hosted across campus today for all students to celebrate the holiday ““ held every year on April 22 ““ and an appreciation for the planet.
The day was founded in April 1970 by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin. Nelson began the holiday to address problems of overpopulation.
“There was a problem of population growth. When Earth Day started, it was aimed at sustainability in that sense ““ from stopping our resources from being used up,” said Jamie Mei Cheng, director of the Student Welfare Commission’s Environmental Awareness, Recycling and Terrestrial Health committee.
The day was used to teach Americans about the earth’s environmental issues.
“It began the modern way of tackling the environment,” said Cheng added. “Before there wasn’t much concern over climate change or the impact humans were having on the earth.”
Each decade following the establishment of Earth Day, new environmental concerns arose and the holiday provided a vehicle through which the issues could be expressed, she said.
To help students realize an interest in environmentalism and sustainability at UCLA, several green-minded student groups have converged this year.
Though Cheng said the events will not be as big as last year due to initial lack of planning and foresight, there will still be a number of opportunities for students to engage with the environmental organizations, she said.
These organizations included E3 ““ Ecology, Economy, Equity; the Education for Sustainable Living Program; the Student Welfare Commission’s EARTH committee; the Sustainable Urban Network; the Rainforest Action Network; and the Office of Residential Life, which all collaborated to plan the Earth Day events.
Activities on campus will include a fair in Bruin Plaza, “International Coffee Break ““ GO GREEN,” an interactive fair in De Neve Plaza and a movie screening. They will take place throughout the day and all over the university grounds.
Dalia Cohen, an Earth Day coordinator for the EARTH committee, said the events held on the Hill are aimed to educate students on how to live sustainably, which includes how to compost and how to take small steps to eliminate waste.
Off the Hill, on Bruin Plaza, the green student groups will sell cups of “dirt” ““ desserts consisting of crushed Oreos and gummy worms ““ to encourage Bruin attention for the events.
Tom’s Shoes, Arbor Sports and Native Foods will be among the ecologically friendly companies present at the event, said Natalie Gaber, secretary of E3.
UCLA isn’t the only place where the holiday will be celebrated.
Westwood’s Whole Foods store, for example, will commemorate the holiday by offering customers free trees and reusable bags. And Cohen said more than 140 countries currently observe Earth Day around the world.
“It’s important,” Cohen said. “With the way things are going now, it’s becoming more and more important to look at how we’re living and how it’s affecting the earth.”
Earth Day provides a venue through which the world’s ecological problems can be focused.
“It looks at more than just recycling or water issues ““ Earth Day encompasses everything together and it’s a reminder for students that even if you hear about all these big things that happen, … there are a lot of things that we can do.”
Gaber said she hopes people’s perspectives about Earth Day will be broadened, and she is optimistic that students will understand why the holiday is important.
“It’s not just about hugging trees; it’s about living a complete and sustainable life,” she said.