Yesterday groups from all over Laramie and the University of Wyoming came together to commemorate Earth Day and lend a hand to Mother Nature.
The event, coordinated by members of the UW Campus Sustainability Committee, featured different stands and attractions sponsored by clubs and groups showing support for Earth Day in a fair hosted at Simpson Plaza outside the Union.
ASUW and the Wyoming Conservation Corps (WCC) spearheaded the fair’s recycling effort. James Goodman, the recycling supervisor for the project, said he was pleased with the amount of support they received from the community.
“This is a really good turnout, it’s really positive for the community to be involved. I’m almost overwhelmed. It seems like there’s a lot more people here than last year for Earth Day,” Goodman said.
One group provided a glass recycling station, a practice typically unavailable in Laramie. The total glass recycling done during Earth Day is estimated at over two tons thanks to donations from students and Laramie residents.
Courtney Smith, a UW senior, said she helped with the recycling effort.
“I’m really excited that UW is participating this much in Earth Day and taking the initiative to help recycle pretty much anything and publicize how we can treat the Earth a little bit better,” Smith said.
The gathering included music, provided by the College of Engineering Applied Sciences. The music came from the farm and ranch demonstration trailer and was powered by solar energy. Milton Geiger, the energy extension coordinator, said it contributed to raising further awareness of renewable energy.
“There’s many reasons why people are engaged with distributive renewables. Some might look at the cost structure, some want the sense of independence, but certainly people with environmental concerns drive the market. And it’s nice to have the sound system here,” Geiger said.
The Conservation Corps debuted their tiny tool cache at the heart of the fair. The cache is a shed made mostly out of sustainable materials that the corps plans to use in their future endeavors. Taylor Miller, the Conservation Corps crew leader, said it would be a place for the members of the group to store supplies for the summer and spread the message of reducing one’s carbon footprint.
“It’s to let folks know what the Conservation Corps does. We do a lot of trail building, a lot of historical site reclamation and a lot of wildlife habitat restoration,” said Miller. “We’re going to be using it this summer to haul out materials to different crews around the state.”
The Haub School of Environmental and Natural Resources was also present, represented by sophomore member Zoe Sherman and their Outdoor Leadership Coordinator Jason Carroll.
“What we’re for is sustainable development for energy as well as keeping the environment clean. A lot of our classes are cool in the sense that they bring in the history of environmentalism as well as what environmentalism is today,” Carroll said.
He also said the club was hoping to get more people involved in the Haub School since most of its members are seniors and will be graduating this May.
Shannon Toomey, a senior member of the Acres Student Farm, represented her club and taught students and community members about local agriculture.
“We’re entirely volunteer-run so if we get people to know about what we do then it helps the whole organization run better because running a farm, is a lot of work. The more people the better,” Toomey said. “If you can get people to care about being outside, you can get people to care about the environment at the same time.”
Phil Cameron, the executive director of energy conservative works, showed the film “Switched” late last night to close up the day’s events. He said it provides a “fair and balanced” take on energy issues in the state of Wyoming. He is scheduled to host a talk later today from 3:10 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. at the Encana Auditorium in the Energy Innovation Center.
