At SUNY-ESF, the week leading up to Earth Day is filled with a wide variety of activities.

Earth Day, which will be held Wednesday, is a worldwide event to show support for environmental sustainability. The past week has been filled with activities, speakers and events that encourage the Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry community to celebrate and appreciate environmental protection.

Earth Week activities have ranged from obstacle courses, yoga and concerts on the Quad to craft workshops, wildlife presentations and discussions on how to become coal-free. For Earth Week, which began last Wednesday, there have already been 22 events, and 34 more have been planned for Monday through Wednesday.

This wide variety of activities has attracted both students and families in the local area. Earthfest, the sustainable music and art festival, took place on Sunday and was co-hosted by the Students of Sustainability at SU, the SU Sustainability Division and the Syracuse Chapter of the New York Public Interest Research Group. It took place in the Thornden Park Amphitheater and featured live music, local food vendors, fun activities and art installations.

Sarah Hamilton, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences at SU, attended Earthfest for the first time. She said she was excited to leave her dorm, unwind and appreciate the atmosphere.

“It was like our own mini-Coachella in Syracuse,” Hamilton said.

She also enjoyed the environmental aspect of the day and felt that it was successful in raising awareness.

“I learned a lot about new clubs that are starting up and trying to be active in the Syracuse community,” Hamilton added.

Sean Conrey, a part-time assistant professor of English at SU, was in attendance at Earthfest and he said he believed it was a perfect day and a chance to bring his kids out and let them see what’s going on, and to show that other people are concerned about it.

Conrey said the event allowed the public to recognize the importance of environmental protection and sustainability. That’s a larger goal of Earth Week events as well.

“It makes the obvious more obvious for some of us, but allows others who don’t think about this stuff often to do so,” he said.

Conrey added that there were many important benefits to hosting events like Earth Week such as building a community and allowing people to get together, raising awareness and encouraging activists and people involved in political action to create an occasion where everyone is doing something other than politicking.

For others, the focus of the week is more on uniting the two schools, SU and SUNY-ESF, and allowing students a time to appreciate the sun.

Nicholas Biller Sessler, a senior in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said he believes that the ambiance of the events held during Earth Week is largely positive and beneficial.

“There are so many bad vibes and events like Earth Week really bring in the good vibes,” Sessler said.

Earth Week will conclude on Wednesday with 12 activities planned on the SUNY-ESF campus, including yoga on the Quad in the morning and a documentary screening about the removal of dams. Earth Day has been carefully planned by organizations such as the Green Campus Initiative, a student run environmental sustainability club, which aims to make every week like Earth Week.

Published on April 19, 2015 at 10:56 pm

Contact Anjali: acalwis@syr.edu