On a day when campus and community came together to honor the environment, Mother Earth returned the favor.
About 30 groups celebrated Earth Day under clear, sunny skies Thursday in the EMU Amphitheater by promoting everything from recycling to carpooling.
People in shorts and sunglasses milled about between crowded booths. Local musicians serenaded passers-by with nearly six hours of music.
ASUO Environmental Coordinator Rosie Sweetman said today’s purpose was to showcase students’ environmental choices.
“The goal in my mind is just to get students aware of what’s out there in the community and on campus,” she said. “And to expose the idea, ‘Hey, it’s cool to recycle. It’s cool to buy local foods.’ You can’t really do that enough.”
Local musicians including Good for America, Jon Itkin, Saltlick, The Fast Computers and Reeble Jar performed during the event.Campus groups like Campus Recycling, the Outdoor Program, OSPIRG, the Department of Planning, the Survival Center and Peer Health Education all displayed booth exhibits.
Several Campus Recycling volunteers donned green tree costumes and roamed campus handing out prizes like keychains and T-shirts to people using refillable cups.
Volunteer Heather Canapary said most students think cups can be recycled when, in fact, they belong in the waste bin.
“People just didn’t know cups were trash,” she said.

Having people throw away cups, she said, would increase the amount of recyclable paper Campus Recycling would receive.
Peer Health Educator Jenny Gerwick said her group hoped to teach students the environmental effects of smoking in addition to the individual risks.
“This is from a different perspective,” Gerwick said. “Hearing how it affects the world as a whole instead of just the individual is another reason to quit.”Campus Carpool Coordinator Jess Parker organized a booth to help teach students the benefits of driving alternatives.
“We’re trying to promote walking, biking, carpooling … everything but driving alone,” said Natalie Cannon, a Environmental Studies major volunteer.
Cannon said the group would also be giving away a $50 gift certificate to the Revolution Bicycles shop, which was operating a booth next to Cannon’s and offered free bike repairs until the afternoon.
But the day wasn’t just a campus affair, with many community groups setting up information booths at the Amphitheater.
The Eugene Water and Electric Board, Project Democracy, Aprovecho, Eugene Weekly, Computer Reuse and Recycling Center and the Oregon Bus Project were just a few of the noncampus groups on hand for the day.
Courtney Anglin, a volunteer for the Bus Project, said the representatives from so many diverse groups helped people of all interests find something to enjoy at the event.
“There’s just a ton of spectacular organizations involved,” she said. “People are definitely coming by in droves to talk, and I think people are getting really engaged and just having a good time.”
Moriah Demers, an ASUO intern who coordinated Lane Community College’s Earth Week in 2005, agreed that the large group turnout was key to making the event a success.
“There’s all these different groups here with so many environmental causes,” Demers said. “There’s a lot of really great local bands who came here today. Everyone is really excited to be here.”
An Earth Day mural made of colorful bottle caps from recycled materials was made in the center of the Amphitheater, she said, until a group of pre-school children arrived and added their own artistic interpretation.
“I don’t know what happened, but the pre-schoolers tried to help us,” she said, laughing. The mural was eventually redone, spelling out “Earth Day.”
Earth Day will be celebrated nationally on April 22. Although there are several theories on how Earth Day officially began, the creation of a holiday to honor environmentalism is usually credited to the late U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson.
After the first Earth Day in 1970, Nelson helped organize the celebration for the next year, appointing Harvard student Denis Hayes to help coordinate.
For a year Nelson and Hayes helped spread the message nationwide. During their time of student political activism, Earth Day attracted supporters and media attention. People soon began to celebrate the event annually on April 22, the date of the original event in 1970.

Contact the business, science and technology reporter at [email protected]