Earthfest rolls through

Powell Cobb | gcsunade.com

Matt Heath, GC alum, balances as he is encouraged to stand up on a 8-foot, inflatable, Earth replica; one of the more popular attractions of the play-day.

Earthfest, the final event in the week-long celebration surrounding Earth Day, brought to Front Campus local artists and vendors, various picnickers, three live bands and one 8-foot-tall inflatable Earth. Organized by the Environmental Science Club, Earthfest and the week before celebrate and host various events that support the club’s mission statement.

“Our mission is increasing awareness of the sustainability movement around the southeast within our student body and the Milledgeville community as a whole,” said Colin Maldonado junior environmental science major, one of the organizers of the event.

One of the final events of the week, a play-day on Front Campus, invited students to spend time on Georgia College’s front lawn.

“It’s a time for students and community members to get out and enjoy a day full of activities that pertain to our mission and get people to appreciate things that are going on outside,” Maldonado said.

One of the most popular events turned out to be the three slacklines arranged in a triangle, or tri-fecta. While the name suggests something different, high-weight ropes are ratcheted tight so that participants can attempt to maintain their balance as they walk across the line. Lines are attached to two anchor points various distances apart.

“It can be from tree to tree, from cliff to cliff, but on our campus, usually just tree to tree,” said Sam Ovett, junior environmental science major.

Another item that was surprisingly entertaining for the participants on Front Campus was the 8-foot-tall inflatable Earth that was caged within the slacklines. Students would roll themselves on top of the ball, adjusting to stay up for as long as possible, some even venturing to stand up while on top of the world. This style of activity largely embodies the overall feel of the event.

“It had a good feel when I was there. Everyone was relaxed and having fun. Everyone was doing interesting things,” Codie Mosher, freshman pre-veterinary major, said.

While this play-day is one of the more popular events, it is only a piece of the week-long series of sustainability events throughout the preceding week. The Georgia Power representatives that passed out high-efficiency light bulbs on campus were invited as a part of this week, and a open-forum recycling session for students and community members was hosted with professors from the Department of Sociology, the Department of Psychology, the Department of Economics and the Department of Environmental Science.

“That was just a chance for students and community members to get a well-rounded view on recycling, not getting biased opinion in one way or the other,” Maldonado said.

The Environmental Science Club usually holds a clean-up the Sunday following Earthfest, but this year was something different.

The Chemistry Club assisted with planting eight trees and spreading pine straw to hold the soil in place when it rains.

“We wanted to take the initiative to help restore the Pit,” Maldonado said. “We actually were restoring the erosion problem right there on that side closest to the dorm.”

Posted by Mark Watkins on Apr 26 2012. Filed under Lead stories, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.