The eighth annual Oxford and UM Green Week, promoting sustainability on and off campus, kicked off Monday.
“Green Week is a community and campus-wide event that brings attention to environmental and sustainability issues while also engaging new audiences,” sustainability fellow Kendall Lane McDonald said. “We aim to highlight sustainability efforts in the community and create fun discussion around different aspects of sustainability through interactive and educational programming.”
Green Week began with a Tree Trail Walk Monday and will have another one Tuesday at 1 p.m. Some other events this year include: an Arbor Day celebration and tree planting Wednesday, an Earth Day keynote speech by Sewanee biology professor David George Haskell Thursday, a Small Hall Music Series Friday and Earth Day Yoga on Saturday concluding the events. A full list of events can be found on their website.
Because the Student Union is under construction, this year’s sustainability fair has been cancelled and replaced with a new event. The Green Week challenge will consist of four categories: food, transportation and energy, nature and learn and do. Participants can complete one action in each category to win prizes such as a Yeti cooler or T-shirt made of recycled materials.
McDonald said Green Week organizers try to be diverse with their event planning, as they want to engage new audiences.
“We aim to be interdisciplinary in our events and engage in many different audiences, as we believe that everyone can participate in sustainability,” McDonald said. “We plan our events around different aspects of sustainability and always try to engage new audiences and partnerships with the community.”
Green Student Intern and senior biology major Kelli Coleman is this year’s Green Week coordinator. Coleman said Green Week is an opportunity for her to show people what she is passionate about.
“My favorite part about Green Week is seeing people get involved with Green Week events who would otherwise never think or care about sustainability,” Coleman said.
Sophomore exercise science major Madison Huffman said living sustainably is essential to maintaining the beauty of our campus.
“I think it’s important that we start this kind of movement on our campus because we have one of the most beautiful campuses in the country,” Huffman said. “If we don’t live sustainable, then we could lose that.”
