While past incarnations of Earth Week have called on students to carry around bags of trash and compost and dance in flair to the sounds of environmental music, this year's event which included efforts to reduce usage of plastic bottles, the screening of an environmental documentary and a showcase of local foods was designed to make a small but lasting change in students' lifestyles, according to EcoRep Ari Koeppel '15.
Earth Week began last Monday with the kickoff of the "I'd Tap That" campaign, which asked students to sign a pledge to give up bottled water for the duration of Spring term. As part of the campaign for which the Sustainability Office EcoReps began planning in the winter Collis Cafe offered discounted Camelbak water bottles in lieu of bottled water.
The EcoReps, a group of freshman interns, organized the campaign to reduce the use of plastic from bottled water and to publicize the efforts of the various environmental groups on campus, according to EcoRep Lorenzo Carlisle '15. They also hosted a screening of the documentary "Tapped" (2009), which addresses the effects of bottled water consumption on the environment.
"I'm hoping to make people appreciate the resources they already have," Carlisle said. "Forty percent of bottled water is identical to tap water."
Koeppel said that the campaign aimed to have 1,000 students take the pledge to avoid bottled water.
"We're making it visual to all of campus that people are trying to make change," Koeppel said. "It's such an easy change to make."
A wide range of individuals, businesses and campus groups were involved in the week's events, according to Koeppel.
On Tuesday, local author and environmental activist Terry Tempest Williams held a reading of her new book, "When Women Were Birds." Williams, an environmental studies professor, lauded the "I'd Tap That" campaign and the College's environmental studies program, saying that they are "part of the reason [she] loves Dartmouth."
The second annual Sustainability and Social Justice dinner was held the following day, bringing together a panel of student and faculty speakers and over 150 attendees. The event was catered by Maple Hill Farm, which provided a vegetarian and locally grown meal.
"There is one thing that no matter who we are or where we're from remains the same," Jasmine Kumalah '12, a food intern in the Sustainability Office, said in her speech. "All of us are sustained by the Earth."
Attendees at each table were asked to provide ideas which were noted and presented to the Sustainability Office for programs that could further promote sustainability and social justice on campus.
"What I think is wonderful about this dinner is it brings people together from across campus," Kelly McGlinchey '12, the Sustainable Dartmouth intern, said. "It applies to every community you could think of."
Prospective students of the Class of 2016 were also drawn into the week's events as part of Dimensions of Dartmouth, which took place Thursday through Saturday. The students were introduced to the College's environmental programs at the "Sustainability @Now" event, as well as a Real Foods Dinner at the Class of 1953 Commons on Thursday evening, hosted by the Sustainability Office's food interns.
Local businesses set up tables in the entrance to '53 Commons, distributing samples of their products to highlight Dartmouth Dining Services' efforts to obtain locally grown foods and to promote "an interdisciplinary notion of what sustainability is," Kumalah said.
By implementing this combination of new and traditional events and drawing hundreds of sponsors and participants, the Sustainability Office hopes students will "learn to carry the messages beyond Earth Week," sustainability fellow Jenna Musco '11 said.
