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Visitors to the Earth Day exhibits on McKeldin Mall yesterday got a bigger taste of Mother Nature than they bargained for.
In an effort to educate students and promote greener living and sustainability, student and community organizations set up tables and activities – dunk tank included. Sporadic but heavy rain put a damper on the day but organizers still said they made important progress.
Senior linguistics major Christian Melendezsaid he wasn’t bothered by the rain.
“We were out there either way,” he said. “We were just trying to drop some knowledge on people. There are so many issues – being green, being sustainable. It’s a holiday for awareness, education and just having fun with it.”
Student Government Association Environmental Liaison Davey Rogner worked with the Student Sustainability Council, a student lobbying organization, to increase awareness of the university’s participation in America’s Greenest Campus, an online competition that promises many prizes, including $5,000 to the school that can get the most students to sign up to reduce their carbon footprint. As of last night, this university was in second place with 846 signatories, trailing George Mason University by 134 – the competition ends in October.
Rogner, who was overseeing a bicycle-powered smoothie maker, said they used laptops at the exhibit to enroll 80 to 100 students. He also said they gave away more than 125 smoothies.
“And those people that took smoothies but didn’t sign up, I looked them real hard in the eye and said, ‘go home. Sign up, and I gave them a flyer,” Rogner said.
Senior government and politics major Amy Dewan, who also helped at the Earth Day exhibition, said the weather definitely deterred some students but was satisfied with the turnout at the end of the day.
“People definitely at least passed by, even just people going to class,” Dewan said. “We got some good outreach.”
Sophomore sociology major Brian Lentz acted as the event’s mascot, wearing an array of costumes over the course of the day – he was dressed as a piece of coal in the event’s dunk tank and later appeared as a polar bear on the smoothie bike.
“Everybody that came had a lot of fun,” Lentz said. “It was very informative the weather was just against us.”
But student environmental groups were not the only participants in the festivities: The Department of Transportation Services and Residential Facilities also had tables, along with Students for a Democratic Society and the SGA.
Philip Keffler was manning a display sent from College Park’s Recreational Equipment Inc. franchise. He and a coworker gave out 50 canteens and passed out literature about the corporation’s environmental outreach projects and grant program.
“We’re just trying to get people outdoors, being one with nature, that kind of thing,” Keffler said.
REI’s work mirrored that of many of the other groups: brochures and freebies in the name of green living.
Rogner also said that, despite the inclement weather and relatively low turnout, the event was a success.
“It’s getting bigger every year,” he said. “Every year people are getting drawn in, people are getting excited. It’s great to watch.”
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