UC Merced Goes Greener

Bike + Fruit = Smoothie.

Earth day is a day when we get a chance to say “thank you” to Mother Nature and be environmentally friendly.

UC Merced is known to be an environmentally friendly school and they proved in on this past Thursday, April 23. The stretch of Scholar’s Lane if front of the library was filled from end to end with tables and booths for various organizations both on and off  campus and around town. The booths included student-run clubs and a Farmers’ Market which sold produce to students.

“It’s a great way to get students engaged,” said Colleen McCormick, Director of Sustainability. “I think the turnout is wonderful!”

“It is fabulous, I think it’s a great event,” said Don Bergman from the Produce on the Go Farmers’ Market van. “We need to be more environmentally conscious.”

Alongside the many organizations that were present, there were many activities that allowed the students to participate in the “Going Green” initiative. First years were given free aluminum reusable bottles to prevent landfill waste caused by the disposable plastic ones. In addition, rangers from Yosemite National Park provided information about the area and taught students camping safety tips. After talking to the rangers,  many students also got to make their own smoothie with a bike blender!

As students learned to be greener, they received tickets that could be redeemed for prizes and a free lunch from J&R tacos.

There were also guest speakers to talk about how students can be more environmentally friendly. Finally, at the end of the day, there was a special Earth Day showing of Disney’s movie Wall-E in COB 102. Thanks to this event more students are aware of how to keep our campus clean, and keep nature green!

 

Anjeliko Garcia
Staff Writer
agarcia333@ucmerced.edu

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