At the Earth Day Fair all groups from ENSP 1304-01 were told to gather data or bring to light any projects that students want to incorporate onto campus.

For my group, Cosmo, Martina & I were advocating for Worm Composting as students approached our table. Not only were we sharing Insight on the benefits on composting, we were also able to inform others on the Do’s & Don’ts of what is healthy for the worms and what they can digest. For example, acidic & fatty/oily foods were one of the biggest arguments that we were mentioning to people because it isn’t something that many know about. Substances like orange peels & pasta or bread can harm the development of a worm & can do more harm that benefits if not treated properly.

As for other groups in ENSP 1304-01, there was a variety of groups that were taking in data when students would go up to their booth. For example, for the transportation team, they ended up gathering data on how students got around Austin or how they would get to campus either walking, driving, public transit or biking. From this we were able to get a better understand one on how sustainable the students/community of Saint Edwards truly is. From this, their team were also able to speak up about creating better transportation in Austin to lower the carbon emissions.

Not only were there students raising awareness towards being more sustainable on campus, but upper classmen were also giving their own take towards Earth Day & speaking on climate change & green roofing. Many students were also selling items to raise Money for endangered species. For example, there was students were able to sell small items to raise money towards turtle conservations & making sure that their habitats were well taken care for.

Events like this in Saint Edwards is what brings our community together towards moving forwards in our sustainability plans for Austin. As Saint Edwards continues to grow, students are able to bring in positive change that allows us to move forward towards a better tomorrow. Being able to broaden the perspectives of other students allows them to see that sustainability is something that everyone should be aware of & try to make a change in their daily lives.

From Earth Day, students from ENSP 1304-01 were able to see that not many students know how much a small change can actually cause a significant difference. Taking my group’s Worm Compost projects an example, we were able to direct food waste to not only composting going back to our community garden, but worms that can utilize food waster as their own food source to produce vermicompost which gives richer soil for plans to produce better plant growth.

All in all, Earth Day was a huge success that allowed not only the community to learn something new, but also allowed us a chance to share with them the good that can come from all of ENSP 1304-01 projects and push them towards also speaking up about there changes that can be beneficial to the Saint Edwards community.

Written By: Anna Suarez

Photo Credit: Dr. Concillio