Earth Week on a College Campus
From harvesting food at Loy Farms to hosting Peter Kalmus, author and climate scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, Elon offered a variety of events for Earth Week last week.
There were between two and five events each day. Different organizations on campus partnered with each other to allow the Elon community to practice sustainability with a twist. For example, the yoga club partnered with the office of sustainability to hold a meditative practice at the Numen Lumen Sacred Space last Monday.
An Earth Week competition took place this year for attending events! First, second and third place winners won prizes such as $25 in Phoenix cash, hammocks and sustainability prize packs. There was a set of student winners and another set of faculty/staff winners.
Freshman Anjolina Fantaroni went to the party for the planet (also known as Earthfest) and attended the keynote speaker event with Kalmus. Fantaroni was appreciative of how Kalmus utilized the short amount of time he had to cater to the audience, she said.
“My favorite thing about the climate change speaker was how many opinions he gave within a small amount of time,” Fantaroni said. “But he never called anyone else’s opinions out and answered so many questions during the Q&A.”
She saw the Instagram posts on Elon dining’s account (@elondining) advertising Earthfest and thought it looked great so she wanted to pop by, she said. Her friends were with her and it made for a perfect evening.
“The weather, music and food at Earthfest was perfect,” Fantaroni said. “I just loved seeing the community come together.”
Sophomore Jillian Dolman attended different Earth Week events because it was an easy way to eat a good snack or meal with fresh ingredients, she said.
“Finding meals with healthy and fresh ingredients can be hard sometimes,” Dolman said.
Photo of Harvest Table event taken and provided by Jillian Dolman.
She went to the harvest table event with fresh basil and pesto, Earthfest, and grabbed an acai bowl at the plant based power event outside the Clohan dining hall. But, Earthfest was her favorite.
Photo of the cow taken and provided by Anjolina Fantaroni.
“I was able to try so many fresh and delicious foods like brisket, mac and cheese, hot dogs and fajitas,” Dolman said. “I also got to try nitrogen Cheerwine slushies which were amazing and totally unique.”
Though, hanging out with and petting the cow at Earthfest was the best part, she said.
Overall, Earth Week was a huge success and well received by the Elon community! Visit the Elon sustainability office (Powell 220) to learn more and get involved.