Choate’s revamped Earth Week, a week-long series of events organized by the Conservation-Proctors and the Sustainability Committee to promote environmental consciousness on campus, began this past Monday, April 8, and ends on Sunday, April 15.
Earth Week launched with Project eARTh, a new event that replaced the Trashion Show from previous years. Project eARTh invited students to create artwork representing environmental issues using reused, recyclable, or compostable materials. Example themes included endangered species, coral reefs, plastic waste, fast fashion, and deforestation.
According to Head C-Proctor Arsh Sekhon ’19, Project eARTh gave students the creative freedom to portray any environmental issue through art.
“Project eARTh can really be about anything,” Sekhon said. “There’s not a specific topic that’s involved like water conservation or recycling, like with Recycling Cup and Hydro Cup, It’s easy to just paint something or draw something, or get with your friends and literally do something like finger-painting.”
C-Proctor Jonathan Gonzalez ’20 explained the importance of the communal aspect to Project eARTh and Earth Week’s other activities: “I really like the aspect of community: being able to bring people who don’t really think about sustainability and ideas like that together, especially at events like [Project eARTh]. I feel like it’s a great opportunity to inform others about things going on in our world, things like climate change –– those are the important things we need to look at in the future. Starting now is great.”
Other Earth Week events this year so far have included DIY shopping bag making in St. John’s, stargazing with Astronomy Club, and making granola bars at the Kohler Environmental Center. “Over the course of the week, we also have environmental crafts. This year, one of our keystone crafts is make-your-own-bag from a T-shirt. It doesn’t require sewing — just tying — and it’s nice to eliminate plastic bag waste,” said C-Proctor Lizzie Quinn ’20.
Environmental events like Earth Week play a critical role in spreading awareness for environmental issues. “Humans play a major part in climate change, and the changing climate is a big problem that we need to address,” Quinn said. “Climate change is something that people know about, but people don’t know about it in depth. People should think about it more — we don’t talk about it as much as we should.”
Environmental clubs on campus have also helped to raise awareness in the community. Recently, Student Advocates For Environmentalism (SAFE) has been collaborating with organizations in Wallingford to expand environmental awareness initiatives beyond the Choate campus.
“I think that it’s important to spread awareness about environmental issues, not only to the Choate community, but also to the Wallingford community,” said Pinn Chirathivat ’19, co-president of SAFE. “We went to Lyman Hall and partnered with their Environmental Club, and we worked to present to the Boys and Girls Scouts about deforestation, compost, and electricity.”
Chirathivat continued, “I think that the small little things we do in the Wallingford community will spark conversations about environmental problems, which could help people become more aware of these issues. In addition, I believe that making people more aware of these issues is a stepping stone to creating change.”
C-Proctor PJ Sethbhakdi ’20 explained his take on Earth Week: “I like how [Earth Week] is a celebration and also a reminder of how we have to come together as a community to be more sustainable for our environment, and how we have come together to think about these environmental concerns and what we can do to improve [our world] for our children and our future. I’m excited to have more interactive projects for the student body this year, compared to previous years.”
Student reactions to Earth Week have been positive. Jacqueline Zou ’20 expressed her appreciation for the week-long event. “As a member of the KEC, I very much support Earth Week. Earth Week really helps all of us become more aware of environmental issues around the world. It also helps us simply appreciate nature more,” she said.
Earth Week also includes a variety of community service activities such as invasive-species removal and trash pick-up, an aspect that Jayden Khuu ’21 appreciated: “Community service is always important, especially for high-schoolers. I think the fact that Earth Week has community service events is a good way to combine community service with environmental issues.”
The overarching goal of Earth Week is to embolden students to become more avid advocates for the environment. “What we really want to convey through Earth Week is that anyone can truly be an environmental activist,” Sekhon added. “It doesn’t matter who you are or what bases of knowledge you have.”
