Events are planned every day of Earth Week April 22-28 on the University of Washington Bothell and Cascadia College campus, but the high point will be the Sustainability Festival on April 24.
More than 50 vendors and exhibitors will present along campus walkways and on the Plaza, where two bands will also be playing, said Alexa Russo (Environmental Studies ‘17), the sustainability coordinator. Highlights include a Bike Works bicycle repair trailer, a talk on zero-waste living and a demonstration on how to use beeswax to make a replacement for plastic wrap.
Russo has worked closely with Cascadia College with the goal of making Earth Week a year-long continuum of sustainability. The theme is “What are you going to do this summer?”
Usually in the fall people ask, what did you do last summer, Russo said.
“I want to shift that to what are you going to do this summer,” Russo said. “I want to create a continuum where Earth Week isn’t one week when you’re super involved and passionate about sustainability and then as soon as Sunday hits you’re done. I want to make people aware of the continuous opportunities.”
Earth Week is also an event that showcases campus unity with Cascadia College and involves faculty and student clubs. “We do Earth Week as one entity,” Russo said.
Clubs include Cascadia’s Sustainability Club and Garden Club, and UW Bothell’s Sustainability Club, Campus Events Board, Achieving Community Transformation (ACT), and the OWLS (outdoor wellness leaders).
This is the third Earth Week on campus for Russo, who started working as a student in the Sustainability Office. Sustainability is within the core mission of the University of Washington as a whole and “part of what we do at UW Bothell,” she said.
“Being mindful of how you’re living your life and having an impact on the Earth is very important,” Russo said. “And It doesn’t take much to have an impact.”
