Sonoma State University is hosting a jam-packed schedule of events throughout the week of April 16 for a special Earth Day celebration that commend not only Earth friendly lessons but encourage diversity and community. This year’s events range from lectures, film showings to even cooking and hiking.
“I truly believe that this year’s Earth Week celebration is the biggest one we have had so far,” says SSU Director of Sustainability Paul Draper. “It’s an amazing week for all our students, staff and faculty to come together to join in all the vibrant and diverse events planned reflecting our campus.”
Earth Week themed lectures from a wide variety of topics will also be present during the week including a lecture on our road to an environmentally friendly path of recovery from the fall’s Sonoma County fires on April 18 on 9 a.m. These lectures are free and open to the public.
“We spend months planning the week of events and it is so rewarding when we can see the community having a great time learning about all the different ways to be more sustainable in our daily lives,” says Jazmine Kary, director of sustainability for student volunteer group JUMP (Join Us Making Progress). “It has been an honor being a part of such a great sustainability community here at Sonoma State and I hope everyone really enjoys what we have planned for them.”
The week officially kicks off Monday, April 16 with an Earth Day Fair that brings environmental activities with prizes and local community sustainability partners to campus. Petaluma Bounty Farm, Sonoma County Spare the Air, and Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) are just three of the groups scheduled to participate.
“We want to really deliver a celebration of campus collaboration and cooperation with this week, says Draper. “This university is really a place that cares about sustainability and allows students to come up and develop solutions in a lively way that touches many different quarters of the university.”
Sonoma State University's commitment to sustainability has been recognized by one of the largest international higher education sustainability nonprofit organizations in the world. The University has received a Bronze Award from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)'s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) program. SSU is one of 787 institutions around the world using the STARS tool and one of eight campuses in the 23-campus California State University system with a STARS award.