ASU celebrates Earth Week across campuses
From sustainability experts to plant sales, Sun Devils come together to celebrate the planet
What on Earth are you planning for April 22?
Every year, people around the globe come together to honor our home planet — and at Arizona State University, hundreds of Sun Devils across campuses will join in for an Earth Week celebration, held April 16–22 .
Serving as hub of Earth Week activities at ASU, the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory offers a world of ways to participate, including a dynamic three-hour event on April 21 that will include conversations and interactive experiences around water, decision-making and the critical issues we all face now and into the future.
The Global Futures Earth Day Celebration will start at 9 a.m. at the Rob and Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health, featuring sustainability experts and students from the College of Global Futures.
Presentations include:
- "Students Are Changemakers" panel featuring students Kyleigh Brown, Kennedy Gourdine, Mauricio Juarez Leon and Jordan King; moderated by Elizabeth Quigley.
- "Be a Decision Maker of Arizona's Energy Future," an interactive exercise powered by Decision Theater, where participants can help choose Arizona's energy pathways.
- "Arizona's Water Future" panel featuring Amber Wutich, President's Professor and director of the Center for Global Health, and School of Sustainability Professor Jay Famiglietti; moderated by Peter Schlosser, vice president, vice provost and professor in the Global Futures Laboratory.
While sustainability is a key part of caring for the planet, Jason Franz, assistant director of strategic marketing and communications at ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise, said that when it comes to Earth Day, it's also about social responsibility and economic well-being.
“Sustainability is a component of larger conversation,” he said. “It’s not simply the sustainability discipline issue, it’s around responsible innovation, it’s around the complexities of our systems. Our largest biome is the oceans and we need to integrate that, too.”
Franz also said the annual celebration is a good opportunity for ASU to showcase this philosophy across the university.
“We absolutely view Earth Day as an essential point to celebrate what it is that we’re doing to drive the idea that we need to have a planet that can thrive for all of its inhabitants,” he said. “It isn’t that we have to fix our world. It’s that we have to fix ourselves and our relationship to this planet, and that’s why we see and participate in events like Earth Day.”
More ways to celebrate Earth Week at ASU
Sustainability Walks
April 6, 11, 18, 25 and 27
Various times and locations
Take a walk around different campuses with a guide from University Sustainability Practices. Learn everything there is to know about our sustainability points of pride.
Cakes and Cacti: Plant Sale and Pancake Breakfast at the Garden Commons
9–11 a.m., April 19
Polytechnic campus
Practice sustainability by eating a hyperlocal breakfast with mesquite pancakes made from local mesquite tree flour, and enjoying fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges at the Garden Commons and coffee from a local roastery. There will also be the opportunity to purchase cacti and succulents that were grown at the Garden Commons.
GreenLight the Future of Work
5:30–8:30 p.m. April 20
Walton Center for Planetary Health
GreenLight Solutions, a student-led cohort of those passionate about sustainability, celebrates its 10th year anniversary with a presentation previewing the future of work. Nonlocal supporters can join the virtual streaming option.
Earth Festival
11 a.m.–2 p.m. April 20
Sun Devil Fitness Complex
Join University Sustainability Practices for the Earth Festival. Visit with a variety of ASU departments and vendors. Reusable bags and water bottles are recommended.
MORE: Browse events happening all month in honor of Earth Week.
Top photo by Deanna Dent/Arizona State University
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