As
April
rolls
back
around
this
year,
so
too
does
the
annual
Earth
Week
in
which
people
at
Baldwin
Wallace
University
and
around
the
world
act
in
the
interest
of
preserving
our
planet
and
environment.
This year, BW students are polishing leadership and management skills as they lead a variety of events from Tuesday, April 19, to Saturday, April 23.
Each event is being planned and led by students in Dr. Jill Fleisher's spring environmental sociology class, and all are aimed at engaging the entire BW community during Earth Week.
Fleisher states, "BW Earth Week events are intended to raise awareness while also encouraging stronger social ties between members of our community. The outdoor events will focus on social, physical and environmental wellbeing."
On
Tuesday
night,
BW
Earth
Week
will
kick
off
with
a
bonfire
at
the
Circle
of
Warmth
at
6:30
p.m.
Included
at
the
bonfire
will
be
s'mores,
games
and
ample
opportunity
to
socialize
with
fellow
members
of
the
BW
community.
Wednesday will mark the beginning of a weeklong Earth Week scavenger hunt and feature a nature hike guided by members of the environmental sociology class.
Thursday includes the week's main event, the big Earth Week carnival. Various booths will offer different games such as a student-led Kahoot!, a game guessing how many bottle tabs there are in the jar, a recycling race and a carbon footprint test. Students even have the chance to earn a prize after completing multiple activities.
Several craft booths, including DIY T-shirt totes, dog toys, seed bombs and plastic yarn weaving, will be dedicated to recycling plastic and other waste materials into useful objects.
The carnival will also include booths for Earth Week organizations, so everyone in attendance can learn more about how to defend the environment beyond the confines of BW.
Friday's
activities
will
include
a
campus
clean-up
and
guided
bingo
at
5
p.m.
Everyone
will
meet
at
the
parking
lot
behind
Telfer
Hall,
and
while
clean-up
is
not
a
mandatory
part
of
the
activity,
it
will
be
encouraged
at
bingo.
Saturday will conclude Earth Week events with lawn games, kayaking and overall general relaxation in the beauty of nature at nearby Coe Lake.
Rowan Rindfleisch Huntley '24, one of the main student event coordinators, noted, "Coordinating Earth Week has been a great challenge. I've had to supervise and bring together so many amazing organizations across campus. It has been an opportunity to refine my professional and organizational skills and bring in two things that I love - sociology and the environment."
To get live updates and more information about how we impact our planet, follow @bw_earthweek on Instagram.
BW's commitment to sustainability was rewarded in 2019 with the prestigious STARS Silver rating from the international Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
Campus
sustainability
efforts
include
a
wind
turbine,
two
solar
arrays,
innovative
recycling
efforts,
a
sustainable
living-learning
community
and
five
geothermal
fields
-
including
the
first
for
a
college
residence
hall
-
that
heat
and
cool
campus
buildings.
Two
buildings
are
LEED
certified,
and
BW
maintains
a
commitment
to
high-performance,
green
building
design
in
all
future
building
projects.
The campus is also home to more than 1,500 trees, most native to Northeast Ohio, and Fullmer Arboretum, earning BW a Tree Campus USA® designation by the Arbor Day Foundation.
A campus sustainability committee, composed of students, faculty and administrators, coordinates and encourages environmentally responsible practices that help create a more sustainable campus footprint, including composting food service waste; more efficient consumption of electricity, paper and water; the use of "green" cleaning products; and support for eco-friendly practices like bicycling.
BW also was the first college in Ohio to offer an undergraduate major in sustainability.
