On April 22, Concordia and the world celebrated Earth Day and showed their appreciation for the beauty around us. Throughout the week students and faculty at Concordia coordinated different activities to educate and inspire students to take better care of the Earth and celebrate what it has to offer.  

Monday, the Marine Lab hosted a touch tank so students could interact with different marine life. On Tuesday, Concordia Cares had a clothing upcycling event in Sigma. They also hosted a trivia night on Wednesday where students had the opportunity to win prizes and test their knowledge. To end the festivities, there was a sunset hike up French Hill with Jamba Juice smoothies provided. 

Concordia Cares coordinator, Elizabeth Sedgwick, said, “It has been so fun to come up with and plan different events that we hope students will connect with and serve as good reminders to be sustainable in whatever way is possible for you.” When planning the events, Sedgwick said, “Our events focus on spending time with nature…where we just want students to be aware of their environment.” 

Other planned events focused on the importance of sustainability and upcycling.

Associate Professor of Biology and Marine Lab Director Sean Bignami said, “Our education outreach goal is to increase ‘ocean literacy’ because the more people know about the ocean, the more they can understand and value the conservation of our marine ecosystems in general.” Bignami said that in the touch tank, there were “a number of local invertebrate species, including sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and marine snails.” 

Sedgwick said, “It is important to acknowledge Earth Week because we only get one Earth. It is easy in day-to-day life to forget or take that for granted and it is important to take time to appreciate the gift of our planet and make sure that it will continue to last for future generations.”

Another Concordia Cares Coordinator, Leah Sugita, said she hoped students learned “about little everyday changes that they can easily do to continue to make our Earth a better place and learn something they didn't know before.” As Earth Week comes to a close, Sugita wanted everyone to remember  “the beautiful creation God created and that we are stewards of. I hope that students are reminded of our Earth's awe-inspiring creation and get to go out and experience nature, especially with all the stresses of finals coming up.”

It can be easy to forget the little things that can be done to be kinder to the Earth, but hopefully with the tips and activities provided by Concordia Cares everyone can implement these actions and work towards being more sustainable and focus on protecting our environment.

Tags: Marine Biology

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