Earth Fest: A tribute to the blue planet

     Face painting, papermaking, tie-dye, bagels being turned into bird feeders and planting dish gardens from Lockerly Arboretum.  No, it’s not the fair; it was this past Saturday’s Earth Day Festival on Front Campus.
     Earth Fest was sponsored by the Environmental Science Club and was two weeks full of celebration and awareness.
Robinson Barker, president of the Environmental Science Club, thought the event went well. 
     “We had great music and some great participation from groups across campus,” Barker said.  “I was really happy with the turnout; there was lots of cool stuff given away, energy-efficient light bulbs, posters, tie-dye, self-made paper and a great experience.”
     Many groups contributed to the event. Georgia Power handed out energy-efficient light bulbs and signed people up for the    “Take the Energy Star: Change a Light Pledge,” which is its cause.
     Tri-Beta, the biology honor society, set up a table to promote the recycling of items such as batteries, cell phones, computers and compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs.
Jamie Grant, president of Tri-Beta, explained to attendees the significance of recycling these items.
     “We feel most people are unaware of the toxic chemicals that are released from things such as cell phones, batteries, computers and CFL light bulbs,” Grant said.  “We want to make people aware of how to recycle these things properly.”
Lindsay Morrison, president-elect of Tri-Beta, gave some tips for how to recycle these items.
     “Contact your manufacturers,” Morrison said.  “They will take them back.  Best Buy and Radio Shack will take batteries, and IKEA is the only place right now that will take CFL light bulbs.”
Best Buy, Nokia and Motorola take back cell phones. OfficeMax and Walgreens take ink cartridges.  Apple, Dell, Sony, Panasonic, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway and Toshiba will recycle computers and office equipment, Grant and Morrison said.
     People representing the promotion of Georgia Permaculture had a booth set up. Permaculture is a way to integrate human life with its natural surroundings to create a self-sufficient system.
     Bob Burns illustrated permaculture as circular thinking instead of linear thinking when it comes to living with the environment.
     “It’s a way to think about how we put stuff together,” Burns said.  “The focus is on the relationships with those elements.”
     After the festivities were over, the entire Planet Earth series was shown on a projector screen on Front Campus, as well.
Who says saving the world isn’t fun?
     To join the Environmental Science Club, visit its group on Facebook or its Web site at www2.gcsu.edu/orgs/student/esc/.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 25 2008. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry