Earth Week events held on campus

By: Chelsea Plushanki

Posted: 4/24/09

Drexel University's Sierra Club hosted several Earth Day events this week to spread awareness of environmental issues and to introduce a petition to increase Drexel's commitment to green sustainability.

According to Catherine Burtness-Adams, a sophomore hospitality major and president of the Sierra Club, there are three main points that the Sierra Club's petition stresses. First, it wants Drexel to sign a written commitment to green sustainability that will include a promise to reduce 80 percent of Drexel's 1990 practical carbon levels by 2050 - a reduction of about 2 percent, which is a national standard.

"We want [Drexel] to get credit for what they are doing by putting [their goals] in their mission statement or somewhere online that would indicate that [Drexel] is a leader in the field of green campuses," Burtness-Adams said.

She said a written commitment would make it possible to see Drexel's goals and help the Sierra Club in their efforts to help Drexel achieve those goals. It would also allow them to hold Drexel accountable if it does not meet its goals by the deadlines it set for itself.

The petition calls for the creation of an office of sustainability and the Sierra Club wants Drexel to establish a full-time staff position on campus that strictly deals with promoting and improving Drexel sustainability.

"We want to have an office that is accessible to the students and to the staff that will have [its] full focus on the sustainability of Drexel," Burtness-Adams said.

The final point the petition makes is the creation of a revolving loan fund. The Sierra Club is asking Drexel to invest 1 percent of their 2009 endowment in sustainable projects, specifically efficiency projects like fluorescent light bulbs, energy mizers for vending machines and low flow showerheads.

As a part of the celebration of Earth Week and their effort to spread awareness, the Sierra Club and the Drexel Engineers Without Borders hosted Water Day April 20.

"Water Day focused on global water issues, which is kind of the next global issue," Burtness-Adams said.

Students had the opportunity to blindly taste bottled, filtered and tap water to see if they could tell the difference.

Lisa Quinn, a pre-junior nursing major who attended Water Day, said she had difficulty telling which water was bottled and which was filtered.

"There was one that tasted rusty, so I knew that was the tap water, but both of the others were fresh and difficult to tell apart," Quinn said.

The Sierra Club also hosted an event April 22 to celebrate Earth Day. They gave out free plants and bottle openers, and raffled off a goody bag from Trader Joes.

"We were just trying to build a general awareness that [April 22] is Earth Day and get people to sign the petition," Burtness-Adams said.

Sonia Havens, a sophomore digital media major who attended the Earth Day event, said she fully supports the Sierra Club's efforts because anything she can do to help the environment is a good thing.

According to Nathan Taylor, a junior mechanical engineering major and member of the Sierra Club, students have been very receptive to the Sierra Club's efforts this week. As of April 22, the Sierra Club had gathered over 120 signatures.

"We will probably be working on it for the rest of the month," Burtness-Adams said. "We are aiming for about 10 percent of the undergraduate student body - which is a lofty goal, but we are trying to show [Drexel] that there is a lot of student support behind [Drexel sustainability]."

The Sierra Club will also host a clothing swap April 24. People will be able to bring their slightly used clothing and exchange it for any items they choose. The idea is to recycle and give the slightly-used clothing to someone who can use it. Any leftover clothing will be donated to a local charity.

In addition, members of the Sierra Club will volunteer their time April 25 to help UC Green and the Alumni Association plant trees in Malcom X Park.