Earth Day at Ohio University celebrated environmental advocacy in Athens. Meanwhile, student organizations and local initiatives work to maintain and expand sustainability practices.
Ohio Earth Day Celebrations started Monday with the Earth Day Parade and Sustainable Infrastructure Hub Seminar. Passion Works Studio, a local non-profit promoting creative individuals with and without disabilities located at 20 E. State St., joined in the excitement.
Despite the actual holiday being Monday, the events will continue and align with OU’s goal of “Earth Day every day.” Tuesday, Walter Hall Rotunda will house student and community organizations providing sustainability information sessions, outdoor exhibits and music by Sunday Creek who will play from noon to 4 p.m.
The Cutler Scholars Program also planted a pollinator strip on the OU golf course to provide the natural resources for insects and flowering plants to thrive.
Natalie Kruse Daniels, director of the environmental studies program and an environmental studies professor, said OU students can get involved in plenty of ways.
“Ohio University was an earlier adopter of offering environmental education,” Kruse Daniels said. “The environmental studies program will turn 50 in the 2024-2025 school year.”
Kruse Daniels encouraged students to continue promoting sustainability through enthusiastic involvement.
“In terms of sustainability as a whole, the cost of inaction is, in the long term, much greater than the cost of action,” Kruse Daniels said.
Kruse Daniels said there are many ways for students to reduce their waste and emissions, not just on Earth Day, but every day.
“I think there are steps individuals students can take things like reducing driving miles,” she said. “Is the Go Bus running home for the weekend? Or can you walk? … I know a lot of students also choose to change their diet and consumption of meat and dairy products to reduce their carbon footprint.”
The Schoonover Green Roof Project is one of many sustainability practices slowly being implemented at OU. The green roof aids storm drainage, improves air quality and reduces energy consumption-related costs.
Kim Thompson, an associate professor of instruction in the Department of Environment and Plant Biology, sees the overuse of natural capital as short-sighted. Thompson hopes OU will continue implementing green infrastructure.
“We think about our capitalist country, which is perfectly fine, but we have natural capital as well,” Thompson said. “Sustainability thinks about people … how the environment is protected and the resources available for us to use forever. It seems like a daunting prospect, but I don’t see the alternative.”
College students struggle to live sustainably and promote environmental initiatives in conjunction with pressing academic and living costs.
“Do things that save you money … Buy less stuff, use less electricity, turn off water,” Thompson said. “There's a reason for that, it saves money, but it also then you're using less energy. So anytime you think about some way that you can save your own resources, you're actually helping the planet as well.”
Earth Day is a period of environmental celebration, but students feel pressure to combat climate change issues independently. Voting based on thorough research allows college students to hold policymakers accountable.
“The biggest decision you can make is to form community around this, discuss these issues, discuss your concerns and then try to find support so that you feel like you can keep going,” Thompson said. “Voting is the single biggest thing people can do to support the environment.”
As students, faculty, staff and all of Athens celebrate Ohio Earth Day, they will promote long-lasting natural capital, form sustainable habits and become increasingly educated on pressing topics.
