At Florida Gulf Coast University, celebrating environmentalism and sustainability are too important to be limited to just one day.
So, while the rest of the world marks Earth Day later this month, FGCU will be hosting 2018 Eagles’ Earth Day festivities starting Sunday, April 8 with a campus trail cleanup led by campus naturalists from 8 a.m. to noon and continuing during the week.
A large-scale celebration will take place 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday, April 10 on the Library Lawn and at the Veterans Pavilion. FGCU is an affiliate of the Earth Charter, and there will be activities centered on its principles. The celebration will include a farmers’ market and educational tables on a variety of sustainability topics. Participants can make refreshing smoothies in our bike-powered smoothie station designed and built by U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering students. Art students will host their annual Runway Earth Fashion Show modeling outfits made solely from recycled and repurposed materials at 11:30 a.m. A light vegetarian lunch will be offered at noon, and Natural Spirit will play music after the fashion show concludes.
FGCU is recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree Campus USA university. Students, faculty and staff will enrich our campus by planting trees from 8 a.m. to noon Wednesday, April 11. During the tree planting, graduating seniors will pass on advice to their mentees in the Emerging Eagles program. This year’s planting will focus on adding rain garden plants to stormwater retention swales. These palntshelp filter out pollutants, contributing to cleaner aquifers and waterways.
The first Earth Day in the United States was on April 22, 1970. Its aim was to raise awareness about environmental issues and inspire communities to safeguard national capital such as clean air and water, healthy soil, biodiversity and resilient ecosystems. While most communities continue to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, the students at FGCU schedule events in early April so they can focus on final projects and exams during the last weeks of the semester.
For more information about Eagles’ Earth Day, contact Jade Chalkley, Student Government Director of Sustainability.
