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Live music and overlapping conversation filled the University of Michigan Diag Thursday, while students weaved between folding tables and posters at the University’s 29th annual Earthfest.
With more than 45 organizations tabling on the Diag, Earthfest celebrates Ann Arbor’s environment and sustainability initiatives and aims to promote involvement and education. This year, the event collaborated with the Michigan Climate Summit, hosted by the School for Environment and Sustainability and the Michigan Climate Action Network, to ensure attendees could get the most out of both events.
Nicole Berg, Office of Campus Sustainability program manager, said Earthfest had interactive opportunities like a Nature Rx walk and tree planting in the Diag at 1 p.m. in an interview with The Michigan Daily. Berg said Earthfest’s central location gave more students the opportunity to explore the different facets of sustainability and learn how to get involved.
“I love it being here in the Diag because you get so much traffic from people that didn’t even know Earthfest was happening,” Berg said. “It really exposes students, even if they’re not studying sustainability or it’s not something they want to delve deep into.”
LSA junior Malachi Cassels was one of the students who stumbled upon the festival, initially drawn by kale chips offered at the MCatering table. Cassel told The Daily that after exploring the festival some more, he enjoyed getting exposed to new sustainability resources and communities on campus.
“I think the biggest thing is getting to know what is actually available at the library table. I didn’t even know we had a seed vending machine,” Cassels said. “A lot of the sustainability stuff isn’t (at) the forefront. I think having an event like that got me to see how many things are actually available for people with environmental and nature interests like myself.”
Organizations at Earthfest ranged from student-run clubs like the Michigan Solar Car team to University departments like the School of Education, all aiming to raise awareness about sustainability.
To promote campus involvement, the Student Sustainability Coalition advertised their grant programs at Earthfest. LSA junior Katelyn Jasmin, SSC communications member, told The Daily that SSC has a small, short-term grant and a large, long-term grant.
“The Social and Environmental Sustainability grant is $2,500 per project for more short-term impact,” Jasmin said. “One of our past examples is that we funded a couple of plays last semester — one was called Dog Fight and they incorporated sustainability. Then there’s the Planet Blue Student Innovation Fund. … It’s up to $50,000 so it’s a really big one so we want to make sure it has a long-term impact on UMich.”
There were also several volunteer and internship opportunities advertised at the event. The Huron River Watershed Council, a local nonprofit that works to protect and restore the Huron River, has volunteer opportunities including a river roundup, where volunteers collect bugs from streams across the Huron River watershed.
LSA senior River Wright, an Ecology Center employee, said it was his first day on the job and he was happy to be there.
“Well, we’re here trying to engage and educate the local community in proper ways for waste management, particularly recycling,” Wright said. “There are many, you know, niche discrepancies that the community doesn’t really know about.”
Jasmin said the event helped emphasize the importance of student engagement with sustainability around campus.
“Even though we work for the University, we are students and our job is to help students and support them,” Jasmin said. “(Everything is) entirely student-driven. It’s student ideas, student participation, and student engagement. I really like this whole group that’s dedicated to helping students and their sustainability ideas.”
Daily Staff Reporters Ava Chatlosh and Emma Spring can be reached at chatlosh@umich.edu and sprinemm@umich.edu.
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