In light of recent University of Arizona new announcements Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, Student organizations work to raise awareness of sustainability issues both on campus and throughout the Tucson community. His one outlet for these awareness-raising initiatives is Earth Week, April 16-22.
Students for Sustainability is one of several student groups that have put together a variety of events for students to participate in throughout Earth Week.
These events include craft nights at the UA Mall, free cooking classes and outdoor movie screenings. A complete list of events SFS hosts during Earth Week can be found at the group’s Instagram.
The ‘Sustainability Summit’ is one of the highlights of this year’s Earth Week activities and is one of the highlights of this year’s Earth Week activities, a 4-hour event that brings together different environmental groups at the mall and the Student Union with a number of diverse guest speakers. emphasizes efforts to Education in Justice, according to his Poulami Soni, one of his co-directors of SFS.
“We have a variety of environmental groups coming from around campus and from the larger Tucson community, such as the Sky Islands Alliance, Saguaro National Park, and the Sierra Club. We also have some very interesting perspectives from the city and we will be discussing Superfund and environmental justice and how cities can work with environmental groups.” Another co-director of SFS, Harry Hughes. “And we also have speakers from the Center for Indigenous Resilience. It is a lineup carefully selected by
UArizona Divest, “student-led organization committed to working with the UArizona community to align university endowments with mission-driven investments to combat the climate crisis,” will attend SFS’ Sustainability Summit one of the group.
DIVEST will also host its own Earth Day event. On Saturday, April 22, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the group can be found at his UA mall chalking up positive messages about sustainability, according to DIVEST member Rhys Williams.
“We’re looking to go further with allied events that are open to all, but positive and earth-celebrating,” Williams said.
UA DIVEST will host a chalk art demonstration at the mall on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22nd. The event highlights issues such as intersectionality in environmentalism and raises awareness of the group’s goals. (Photo courtesy of UA DIVEST)
The group will also partner with Cats After Dark and the Arizona Youth Climate Coalition to host a movie night on Friday, April 21st.
These Earth Week initiatives come at a particularly appropriate time at UA. Sustainability and Climate Action Plan. More than ever, SFS and DIVEST want students to participate in these sustainability conversations.
DIVEST student leader Samantha Wetherell invited students to complete a campus community opinion poll emailed last week by President Robert C. Robbins. The survey “informs the first phase of the action plan,” according to the email, and will close by April 30.
DIVEST student leaders are optimistic about the direction the university is heading in terms of climate action and want to bring this positivity into Earth Week.
“We are trying to use this event not only as a demonstration of student support for divestments, but also as a demonstration of why divestments are of interest and why they are important.” Wetherell said. Intersecting Justice, Sustainability. That’s why we want to do this more positive event by thinking about what we can do in the future instead of sustainability issues at school. “
Soni also spoke about Earth Week as a tool to bring positive awareness to sustainability groups on campus, Earth Week is one of SFS’ annual highlights, and the events and opportunities SFS offers on campus. I said it was a way to raise awareness in the group. all year round.
“I think Earth Week is a showcase for everything we do all year round. We plan things out and have educational initiatives all year round, but come see how cool SFS is,” said Hughes. “Rather than continuing education from Earth Week, we can say that Earth Week is the flowering of all other regular educational initiatives.”
In keeping with its commitment to creating a culture of sustainability on campus, SFS’ offerings may look a little different this year. SFS is typically known for the shirts and hoodies offered at its events, but the lack of sustainable vendors for these products has led SFS to pursue a different course of action this semester. rice field.
“UA has no sustainable shirt vendors. No. Valued at over $100, the baskets are sustainable merchandise that matches the event’s theme that people can actually use and cherish, and advance their own kind of sustainability. ”
These prizes will be awarded daily, and students will be entered as winners by participating in SFS-sponsored events throughout Earth Week.
“We want people to know that there are great prizes to be won at Earth Week. Because we wanted to put money in our mouths by giving out possible prizes,” Hughes said.
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