At a glance
The Earth day celebration is a popular annual gathering at the University of Washington. This year marks the 45th… Read full summary
- Funding received
- 2014-2015
- Small
- Awarded
- $1,000
- Funding partners
-
- Student Activities Fee (SAF)
- Website & social links
The Earth day celebration is a popular annual gathering at the University of Washington. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the event. On April 22nd, 2015 the event was put on by UW's student run Earth Club and assisted by the UW sustainability staff. The goal of the organizers is to bring as many people together as they can to talk about our planet and sustainability. This year the celebration was located in Red Square in the center of campus. Thousands of people gathered to enjoy live music, free food and talk with the dozens of organizations who represented themselves with booths and tables.
Events like Earth Day are very important to sustainability at the University of Washington. They are effective outreach tools and help get thousands of people involved in sustainability on campus. The various clubs that table the event cover a broad range of environmental topics, from eating locally and being sustainable in your daily life, to thinking globally and getting involved in national policy. Many people who would not interact with groups focused on the environment are attracted to the sights, smells and sounds of the various events in Red Square. They mingle with the other students, speak with some of the student groups and RSOs and leave with a greater knowledge of what their peers are doing to make a difference to sustainability locally as well as globally.
The $1,000 that the CSF put towards Earth Day funded the rental of tents and tables for the event. With several dozen groups tabling and a few large tents the event was able to include a wide variety of sustainable groups. Other expenses included: purchasing compostable cups, renting a PA system and printing advertisements and decorations to promote the event. In addition to the CSF, the Earth club also received funding from ASUW and the College of the Environment.
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 45th 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 22nd 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.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
|
Event Costs |
|
|
Sustain Cups |
$767 |
|
Solar Rover |
$191.93 |
|
PA System |
|
|
Tents & Tables Rental from AA Party Rental Co. (where CSF money would go into) |
$3,265.29 |
|
Marketing/printing |
$250 |
|
Decorations |
$30 |
|
Prizes |
|
|
Event total |
$4,504 |
|
|
|
|
Sponsors |
Amount |
|
ASUW Special Appropriations |
$1000 |
|
College of Environment |
$1000 |
|
Campus Sustainability Fund (Unconfirmed) |
$1000 |
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
Lysia Li
Project lead
- lysialee@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Student Registered Student Organization (RSO)
Aubrey Batchelor
Team member
- aubrey24@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Staff