Annual Earth Day celebration strikes important conversations
As the sun beamed and made its way through to the Memorial Student Ballroom Pavilion, students gradually lined up by the booths awaiting their chance to receive their very own token from the planet they actively work hard to preserve.
The Office of Student Engagement and Campus Life hosted an Earth Day celebration open for all students, faculty and staff at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) on Friday, April 22. Organizations such as the Campus Activities Board (CAB) and University Housing and Residence Life joined in on the event to further promote the planet-friendly day.
“We are aware of what is going on and we are trying to get students’ attention in a fun and positive way that brings awareness and encourages students to participate,” CAB Marketing Chair Carmela Martinez said.
Although last year’s Earth Day celebration gave students an opportunity to create herbarium kits, the organizations hosting this time around wanted to choose something different while maintaining the earth friendly aspect.
While students looked forward to creating DIY succulents and DIY Jellyfish Air Plants, other booths at attendance gave away earth-friendly products and healthy snacks like vegetables.
Since previous Earth Day events like last year’s was a hit, students were excited to check out what this year’s event had to offer.
“I came to this event last year and it was really fun, so I wanted to do it again,” senior architectural engineering major Cristian Miranda said.
Besides supporting the on-campus event, Cristian shows his support for the planet in other ways daily by recycling, using a reusable water bottle and walking.
The annual Earth Day event was created to demonstrate support for environmental protection by acting, whether big or small.
Junior architectural engineer Fernando Garcia makes note of the recycling bins around campus and takes advantage of them when needing to dispose of paper or plastic.
“Earth Day is important because we need to preserve the planet as much as possible. Earth day should be advocated, students should support it and celebrate it not just on April 22, but every day,” Garcia said.
With events like the Earth Day celebration on campus, students can continue to learn about ways they can make a difference.
“Coming to these events gets you thinking and we need to take it upon ourselves to educate ourselves on this one planet. The small choices we make will determine how much we are willing to put in to keep our Earth sustainable,” Martinez said.