Earth Week continues campaign for environment

Josh Goodman Staff Writer

In the days leading up to Earth Day (which is on April 22), Vassar will celebrate its annual Earth Week. Vassar Greens, the group in charge of the week, has been working for the past semester to expand on last year’s extravaganza by including more interactive workshops and adding speakers who will help promote awareness of different issues plaguing the environment.

Greens member Ellie Leonard ’06 believes that Earth Week will be successful as long as it “gets students talking.” Leonard added that Vassar is becoming a more environmentally- friendly campus. She pointed to the creation of the Sustainability Committee as evidence of progress.

Earth Week was instituted at Vassar to increase responsiveness among students to environmental issues, which affect both the College and the world at large. The Greens started the event, and beginning this year are working closely with several academic departments, including Environmental Studies and Political Science, to help coordinate events.

Students can expect a full week of activities, starting Saturday, April 15 with Earth Fest. Beginning at 11 a.m., the residential quad will be turned into a free ecological party, which will include food, campus bands, tie dye, and massages. From 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., an environmental puppet show will take place, performed by theater group Arm of the Sea. Other events for students during the week include Environmental Trivia Night in the Mug on the evening of April 17, local beer Jazz Night on April 18, and a screening of Captain Planet in Rockefeller Hall on April 21.

Earth Week will also bring many distinguished speakers to Vassar, offering insight into several key environmental issues. On April 17, Heather Rogers will speak about her recent documentary, Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage. The following day, Democracy Matters will sponsor a panel on progressive politics and clean elections as a United Nations Family Agency Lecture. Panelists will discuss the effect of population on the environment.

One of the most anticipated events of Earth Week is Andy Revkin’s discussion of world environmental politics and global climate change, which will be held on Thursday, April 20. Revkin has studied environmental issues for more than 20 years and currently is a writer at the New York Times.

The culmination of Earth Week at Vassar will be Earth Day itself. On the morning of April 22, several Vassar students will participate in a clean-up of the Hudson River near Casperkill Creek. Afterwards, a tree-planting ceremony will be held on campus to commemorate Earth Day and the week’s accomplishments.

Earth Week is not the Greens’ only event, as they have sponsored programs like Do it in the Dark, a concert held in the fall to promote energy conservation.

The Greens have assembled around 55 volunteers to help coordinate the string of week-long events. “I'm excited for Earth Week because we have such a wide variety of events going on throughout the week that will address a range of pressing environmental issues, from waste management to politics of global warming to local activism,” said Greens Chair Hannah Mason ’06.