By Charlotte Brookins
April 2023 marks the University of Iowa’s 53rd consecutive year of celebrating Earth Month.
This year’s celebration features a variety of events, experiences, and opportunities for people on campus and beyond to enjoy.
The UI Office of Sustainability and the Environment, which is housed in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been hard at work preparing for Earth Month and the many events on the schedule. In addition to OSE-led events, UI colleges, departments, and student organizations are organizing their own Earth Month events.
Activities include film screenings, trash cleanups, tree plantings, a recycle runway fashion show, and much more — including the large-campus-wide Earth Everyday festival, happening on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22 from 1 to 4 p.m., on the Pentacrest and inside Macbride Hall.
“Our partner, Public Space One, is taking the lead on a community art project that will be the feature of the event. There will also be UI and community organizations on site hosting their own art-related activities,” Beth MacKenzie, sustainability program manager, explains.
Inspired by The LENA Project's Prompt for the Planet event last fall, MacKenzie and the other event organizers wanted emphasize community art and creation.
“We'll have local artist demonstrations, kid crafts, birds from the UI Raptor Project, a tree seedling giveaway celebrating the UI Literary Grove, nature art, and more,” she added.
In addition to the festival, the Stanley Museum of Art and the departments of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Geographical and Sustainability Sciences will also host events earlier in the day on Earth Day. There will be no shortage of activities for the community.
While it’s fun to enjoy Earth Day and the community events that go with it, there are ways to appreciate the planet the other 364 days in a year.
“Spend more time outside,” MacKenzie says. “Aside from the health benefits of being outdoors, people tend to appreciate the wonder of nature when they see it in person. We hope that will inspire them to be more thoughtful about the social and environmental impacts of their daily decisions.”
Check out the full list of Earth Month activities on the Office of Sustainability’s website.