Earth Day celebration encourages action

The 5^th annual Piedmont Earth Day Fair,sponsored by the Piedmont Environmental Alliance, was held on Davis Field on April 17. Nearly 8,000 people attended the fair themed around the idea “Day of Action.” More than 100 exhibitors demonstrated a variety of ways to reduce your impact on the planet from switching to sustainable commuting methods, to buying local organics and exploring the great outdoors. Hundreds of attendees took action by pledging their support to minimize the negative environmental impact of their own lives. The green pledgers wrote down attainable goals on slips and paper and attached them to the walls of a Bottle Tower constructed by university community members from recycled materials found on campus.

The university’s Earth Day celebration kicked off on the 21st in the Reynolda Fresh Foods Company. Local farmers brought produce to distribute at the dining hall and the Pit featured locally sourced ingredients on the lunch menu. That night, Ben Harper and Relentless 7 performed in Wait Chapel as part of the Campus Consciousness Tour.

Several events around campus lent a reflective nature to the celebration the following week. On April 22^nd, the Native American Student Association held a ceremony to bless the garden at the intersection of Faculty and Wingate Drive. University staff have begun to reintroduce native species of plants to the already biodiverse space that was once just a storm-water run-off area. The garden is now designed as a meditative place of reflection for members of the Wake Forest community. It was named Nvwotohiyada awisvni – the Cherokee name for a meditative or healing garden.

Other members of the university community joined the celebration as well. The Library Lecture Series in ZSR featured a panel that discussed use of the campus as a Living Classroom. Members from the biology, English, history, and religion departments discussed they ways they use the campus for research and teaching.

Be sure to check out photos from the Day of Action on our flickr page and at Terri LeGrand’s Picasa.

Caitlin Brooks, Outreach and Communications Intern