The Student Sustainability Council is hosting the second annual EcoFest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, on Scholars Lane, hoping to encourage the campus’s culture of sustainability.
“Our theme is growth — celebrating our growth as a campus but also students’ growth as individuals,” said Adriana Gomez, chair for the Student Sustainability Council. “We’re really trying to celebrate what we’ve achieved so far and how we’ll continue to make progress in the future.”
As part of the festivities during Campus Sustainability Month, more than 20 student organizations will engage the campus community with sustainability-related education and activities.
For example, attendees will learn from UC Sprouts about the process of growing tea. Each person can create an individual blend from a variety of loose-leaf teas provided.
At the Engineers for a Sustainable World table, students can decorate mugs with their commitments to sustainability, and keep and reuse the mugs to help the campus reduce its carbon footprint by 2020.
The Sustainable Agricultural Society is giving people the chance to plant their own herbs to take home and enjoy.
“We really want to engage students in a way that is meaningful and impactful, but also fun and engaging,” Gomez said. “I know sustainability often has a preachy connotation to it, but we really want students to see the fun as well as the importance of it.”
The celebration will include music, dancing and performances by UC Merced student groups like Hip Hop Movement. There will be photo booths, games and a sustainability art competition for students who submitted original pieces.
Organizers will distribute 200 reusable tote bags, along with other giveaways.
For more information about EcoFest, contact Adriana Gomez at agomez68@ucmerced.edu.
