In preparation for Earth Week (April 19-25), many students are wondering what is happening around campus and what they can do to support the cause. The majority of students are unaware of their environmental impact and wonder how they can lessen their impact. There are a variety of groups on campus, which promote a healthy Earth, one of them being the Sierra Club.
Erica Tuttle, a senior biology major in charge of Sierra Club’s GMO roundtable discussion, discussed the myth of it being hard to be environmentally friendly in an urban environment, Earth Week events, and tips for going green.
“I actually think that it is quite easy to be environmentally friendly in an urban environment. I walk practically everywhere because everything is within a few miles when you live in a city,” she said.
One of Erica’s easy tips for students to help the environment is using reusable water bottles. She said, “With all of the hydro stations on campus I never need to buy plastic water bottles; filling up my reusable water bottle at the stations really helps to cut down the waste of plastic that will inevitably end up in our oceans.” This is something that every student can easily do The best part, it saves money especially when living on a college budget.
Earth Week is right around the corner! Erica informed me of some of the week’s events to look for, “Students can become involved on campus by participating in a few of the activities that the Sierra Club is hosting. There are so many different types of activities to fit everyone’s interests. We hope to have a clothing and items swap, along with a mostly vegan bake sale, a bike trip around the city, a movie night on Race Street Lawn, and much more.” For more information regarding the time and day of the specific events, like the Drexel University Sierra Student Coalition on Facebook and look for promotional information around campus.
After organizing Earth Week events on campus for the past couple years, Erica highly recommends that students come to Lancaster Walk on Earth Day (April 22nd). She said, “There are always a lot of fun activities to participate in and new information to learn.” She hopes “that people learn a little bit more on why it is so important to care about the environment now and the easy steps that they can take to really make a difference.” She encourages students wanting to be involved in Earth Week to join the Sierra Club on a nature walk so “… that people see all of the great locations that we have within Philly that are not so urban.”
For those students wanting to make the world a prettier and healthier habitat, she advises students to change four things in their daily routine. “The first is to use a reusable water bottle, not only would you be helping to save the environment with a reduction of plastic waste, and the communities who get their water basically stolen from them by large corporations such as Nestle, but you will also save money. The next step would be to use reusable bags. It is so simple to keep them by your door and grab them on your way out to shop. Another step would be to recycle. In Philly, it is not hard to do because the waste haulers do not require you to separate your recyclables when you place them outside for pickup. Drexel also has many different recycling bins on campus that you can use. The last step would be to walk, bike, or take public transportation whenever possible, which is extremely easy to do living in the city. Just by doing one of these steps will really have a positive impact on the environment!”
Try to incorporate these tips into your daily routine and have a happy Earth Week!