SF State welcomed hundreds of students and faculty this afternoon to promote sustainability and environmental awareness on campus and in the community.
Campus Sustainability Day booths, activities and workshops were scattered throughout SF State’s quad to celebrate the third annual event. Among all of the activities going on, there were also free massages from the Holistic Health Network, as well as free food and prizes.
“The main goal of sustainability day is to demonstrate the importance of environmentally friendly practices and the many ways that you can practice environmental sustainability,” said Tyler Wescott, environmental studies major and ECO Students member. “We are hoping to get many students and faculty involved and show how much fun environmentalism can be.”
ECO Students hosted a scavenger hunt that drew in 30 participants searching for sustainable spots on campus including the bike barn, herb garden and MUNI stop. The locations were based on themes such as waste reduction, public transportation and water conservation, according to Wescott.
“It has taken us a good month to pull this together and the journey hasn’t been easy,” said Adriana Austin, geography major and ECO Students event committee member. “The planning process consisted of many brainstorming work days from our events committee, an array of marketing techniques from our outreach committee, and efforts from all of us to find donations.”
Clues were given out to students at each of the seven locations and prizes were awarded based on the number of locations found at the end. There was good feedback from students who participated in the scavenger hunt, according to Raven Rutledge, environmental studies major and ECO Students outreach committee member.
“I know there are hundreds of students and faculty from many departments besides environmental studies that are deeply concerned about water and energy resource issues, climate change, social justice as it relates to healthy food and healthy communities and many other sustainability concerns,” said Davin Wentworth-Thrasher, SF State’s sustainability operations coordinator. “I want to show them there is a platform for their voice and their actions to make a difference on campus – that’s what campus sustainability is all about.”
Numerous workshops were held at Campus Sustainability Day about topics including permaculture, composting and seasonal cooking with sustainable produce. In addition to the workshops, students could purchase organic pancakes from the Experimental College and plants from Friends of the Greenhouse.
“I had a positive experience at Campus Sustainability Day,” said Kirk Kunihiro, recreation, parks, and tourism major. “Everyone I’ve come across today has been super knowledgeable and everything has been relevant to my major towards environmental education.”
