Earth Day 2015 Celebration

Earth Club is requesting $1000 from the CSF Small Projects Fund for the Earth Day 2015 Celebration. The purpose of Earth Day Celebration is to come together and celebrate 45^th Earth Day here on the University of Washington Seattle campus. It will create opportunity for interdisciplinary attendance including undergraduate, graduate and professional environmental active UW students to meet and network with local sustainability focused businesses and vendors, present their original work and come together to connect with campus environmental and sustainability groups, therefore contributing to a more sustainable campus. On April 22^nd 2015, on Red Square there will be exhibitors fair for various environmental groups, as well as environmental keynote speeches from Dean of College of Environment and music performances. Another notable feature of the celebration is that all the stage performances will be solar-powered, thus reinforcing the sustainable idea of the celebration.

Environmental impact

On the Earth Day, the exhibitors fair and stage performances plan to attract more than 10,000 students and community members on campus who will find the opportunity to explore the environmental stewardship on campus and learn what they could do to contribute to reduce the school’s environmental impact. Among the groups who will come to present their ideas, there are various focuses of them including reducing carbon emissions, effective usage of solar power, reducing pollutants and so on. Visitors will be able to help with signature gathering for certain groups as well as participating in creating a sustainable campus on a daily life basis.

Student leadership & involvement

Earth Day 2015 Celebration is primarily organized by student-oriented Earth Day planning committee and facilitated by UW Sustainability staffs. Coordinated by Lysia Li, an Earth Club officer, the planning committee consists of around 8 student leaders from various environmental groups on campus, including Earth Club, SEED, CSF and EcoReps. The leadership of the planning committee and generous help from UW Sustainability contribute and determine the occurrence of Earth Day 2015 celebration, which also addresses the leadership preference of CSF.

Education, outreach, & behavior change

Since the celebration plans to attract more than 10,000 visitors, the exhibitors’ fair allows itself to be an environmental educational outreach for the campus community. Visitors that are mainly composed of students will be able to connect with various campus sustainability groups and thus increasing their awareness of the environment.

Feasibility, accountability, & sustainability

The UW Sustainability staff members who have experiences of Earth Day celebrations planning facilitate the planning process. They helped the committee to connect with College of Environment, UW Recycling, HFS and other departments in school. They also offer help with acquiring permits and logistics process. At the same time, since the committee is consisted of student leaders from various environmental groups, they are already equipped with outstanding leadership and project management skills that can contribute to the successful completion of the celebration. We have already obtained approval for using Red Square for April 22nd, permit for outside sustainable vendors giving out food on campus and so on. Our committee along with UW Sustainability is equipped with skills that enable us to plan the celebration successfully.

Budget

Our total Earth Day budget is $4504 and the $1000 from CSF will go towards the rental charge of tents, tables and stages as showed below.

Timeline

Exhibitors Fair: 10 am-3 pm

• Stage performance
  • 11:30 AM: Music
  • 12:00 PM: Earth Day Celebration Welcome
    • Opening Remarks 5-10 mins, Lisa from College of Environment
    • Keynote Speakers' Speech
  • 12:30 PM: Music Performance
    • Environmental verses
  • 1:00 PM: (saved for Husky Green Awards, could alter)
  • 1:15 PM:  More Music

Primary and secondary contact information

• Lysia Li, UW Earth Club, Earth Day Coordinator: (323) 916-3046, lysialee@uw.edu
• Aubrey Batchelor, UW Sustainability: (206) 370-1463 cell, (206) 616-9471 office, aubrey24@uw.edu