This year on April 22, to celebrate Earth Day, Choate’s Conservation-Proctors (C-Proctors) arranged various activities spanning four days. From Thursday, April 22, to Sunday, April 25, students participated in Earth Day trivia, stargazing, a screening of the 2012 film version of The Lorax , Trashion Show, Project eARTh, and various community service programs.
Ms. Lena Nicolai, one of the advisers to C-Proctors, explained the process of coming up with these activities. “C-Proctors created programming for Choate’s Earth Week over the course of several years,” she said. With a list of options from previous years at hand, the C-Proctors chose the activities that were the most feasible taking into account Covid guidelines. In addition, they also had to “coordinate with other groups on campus to support the events.”
Amanda Benneh ’24, an Eco-Rep in Nichols, participated in both stargazing and The Lorax screening. “On Earth Day, we emphasize the need for a more protective and sustainable environment around us,” she said. “We can truly recognize the beauty of nature and be motivated to take care of it.” At stargazing, Benneh and her friends “were able to relax and truly see the beauty in the sky.”
Another popular event was trivia, in which teams of students raced to answer environmental-themed questions. Sunny Vo ’24 said that she learned a lot of “surprising facts and statistics on human consumption and waste, the movement against climate change and pollution, and nature as a whole.”
Community service opportunities allowed students to farm and garden on and off campus. Eco-Rep Jasmine Khuu ’24 said, “I had fun gardening at Paddock Farm and playing with the chickens.”
Choate’s Sustainability Committee continued its yearly tradition of “Sustainable Swag Giveaway” by giving away reusable bags from Bagito, made from 100% recycled plastic, to new students.
Ms. Nicolai believes that Earth Day is significant in multiple ways, including for its commemoration of a movement and for building awareness for a cause. She pointed out that Earth Day marks “the outcome of many months of organizing and activism on the part of young people, labor unions, scientists, and activists.”
Wendy Huo ’23 shared this sentiment. “I think it’s important for us to appreciate everything that Choate has offered, a big part of it being the beautiful campus. We should celebrate our existence and cherish the resources provided by Mother Earth.”
To embrace the message of Earth Day, Benneh suggested the Choate community should “continue to compost, pay attention to the usage of water and electricity, and spread awareness about our global emissions every day.”
Ms. Nicolai also highlighted the importance of “checking one’s needs against one’s wants, actively choosing to be aware of the implications of one’s choices, and having conversations with others about our collective choices.”
