Environmental awareness has spiked on the Georgetown campus with this year’s Earth Week, as the buildup to the 40th Earth Day on Thursday comes with new highs in on-campus involvement.
Events began April 10 with the Green to Gold: Growing the Green Energy Economy symposium and run until April 26, concluding with the Coca-Cola interactive recycling trailer.
“Georgetown has a longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship,” university spokesperson Andy Pino said. “In recent years, we’ve made some ambitious commitments in the area of environmental sustainability, including our initiative to cut the university’s carbon footprint in half by 2020.”
Kristin Ng (MSB ’11), president of EcoAction, outlined the importance of Earth Week for the Georgetown community as a whole.
“There’s a small contingent of students who are very environmentally aware, which is great, but having these larger, more high-profile events really creates visibility for our cause and helps to engage people who otherwise wouldn’t be involved,” Ng said.
She added that she felt strongly that students should attend the Green Square event on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“It’ll be great for students to come and learn a bit more about what we’ve been working on and how to get involved,” Ng said.
Georgetown University Outdoor Education also sponsored events for Earth Week. According to Russ Watts, director of Outdoor Education, this year has seen the highest number of co-sponsors of Earth Week events that Georgetown has ever had.
Watts said that Georgetown’s level of sustainability is often measured against schools that have a lot of funding for such initiatives, and this has raised the bar for Georgetown.
“This is the most action-packed Earth Week we’ve ever had,” Watts said.
Pino emphasized that these events provide a forum for Georgetown students to consider their own efforts at sustainability.
“I think this is a good time for everyone to think about what they can do as individuals and as part of the Georgetown community to minimize their impact on the environment,” Pino said.
Upcoming events for this week can be found at sustainability.georgetown.edu.
Events were also sponsored by the Office of the Senior Vice President, University Facilities, University Information Services, The Center for the Environment, EcoAction, Outdoor Education, Project Hilltop, The McDonough School of Business Clean Tech Club, The School of Nursing and Health Studies, The Mortara Center for International Studies, The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Auxiliary Services and Campus Ministry.
