Students celebrate Earth Day at Memory Mall

Cornhole games, free food, live music and even face painting were all staples of UCF's second annual Earth Day Celebration at Memory Mall on Friday.

The event, which was organized by the Student Government Association, UCF's Department of Landscape & Natural Resources, and Outdoor Adventure, promoted environmental awareness and also provided students with simple solutions to reduce their impact on the environment.

More than 20 organizations were present at the event, according to Roberta Nogueira, Outdoor Adventure coordinator for UCF's Recreation & Wellness Center.  

Nogueira said that Outdoor Adventure adheres to the ethical principles of Leave No Trace, an educational, nonprofit organization dedicated to the responsible care and enjoyment of the environment.  

One of the principles that she highlighted was the proper disposal of unwanted food.  

She said that people need to make sure that they are collecting their unused food and not leaving it laying around for animals to eat, because they could become accustomed to eating human food rather than their own food.

"A lot of people don't understand that  [leaving unused food around for animals] affects the animal behaviors around there.  They're consistently eating human food and then they don't want to eat their food, and then now we're kind of messing up the life cycle of animals," Nogueira said.

One of the groups that attended this event was the UCF Green Team, an organization devoted to educating students on how to make the campus more sustainable.  

Julia Watson, vice president of the Green Team, said that one of the goals of this group is to get the buildings on campus to be Energy Star certified in order to improve their efficiency.

She said that one of the ways that students can reduce their impact on the environment is to be conscious of the products that they are buying to see if they are Energy Star certified.  

Watson also said that the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs is also helpful.  She also said that being aware of events occurring around the world is helpful to educating people on how to reduce their impact on the environment.

"A big thing is staying current in what's going on, on campus and around the world," Watson said.  "Reducing your ignorance, that's a big thing."

Aside from environmental groups, non-environmental organizations were also present.  

Carlyn Edmond, fundraising coordinator for the Total Freedom program, was on hand with other members of her group.  The program is a  faith-based initiative that helps people break their addiction through faith in God.

She said that her group is not funded by the government and operates strictly out of fundraising and donations.

The organization was raising funds at this event through its Water for Life program, offering a bottle of water to visitors in exchange for a $1 donation or a 24-pack of water for a $10 donation.  

Edmond said the money raised will go toward operating costs for the program, including the nine homes she owns in Ocoee in which Total Freedom members reside, vehicle upkeep and gas.

Winners of the "Battle of the Residence Halls," a recycling competition between UCF buildings held by UCF Dining Services, were announced at the Earth Day celebration. Tower III and Tower IV won the competition, and senior philosophy major Alexander Kaplan was awarded a Kindle for being the individual that recycled the most during the competition.

Daniela Dawson, a freshman humanities major, attended the Earth Day celebration for the first time.

She said that she was motivated to attend this event because of her love of the environment.

"I'm all about saving the environment," Dawson said.  "It's everything that I'm into.  They have vegetarian food, they have tie-dyeing and painting and arts and crafts."

Alison Adams, a senior biology major, also attended the event.  

Although she arrived toward the end of the celebration, Adams said that she learned a great deal from the Outdoor Adventure tent.

"I learned you can rent kayaks and canoes, and do trips with the outdoor adventure clubs," Adams said.

The celebration also gave away free planting kits, had outdoor yoga instruction  and many other outdoor activities throughout the day.

UCF held other green-oriented events leading up to the Earth Day celebration including: rewarding UCF Dining Services visitors who bought or own reusable items, free produce from UCF's Organic Community Garden, the fourth annual "Campus Clean-up," yoga classes at Oak Hammock and meatless menus available at on-campus dining halls.

UCF Landscape & Natural Resources, the Recreation and Wellness Center's Outdoor Adventure Program, the Student Government Association's Environment & Sustainability Program and the UCF Environmental Coalition co-sponsored all of the activities.