The Colby Echo

Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Green Page

Media Credit: Rob Kievit Students sample local apple products at the Green Expo in Pulver Pavilion on Earth Day, April 22.

It has been a busy year for EnviroCo, an on-campus group dedicated to raising student awareness surrounding environmental issues. According to a member of the group's leadership team, Eric Hansen '08, "the group has exploded in the past year and a half." Although the group was fairly small during Hansen's first and sophomore years, on returning from his semester abroad during his junior spring he found that the group's size had increased dramatically. The increase in size has facilitated an increase in possible projects. "I have no idea why [the increase in interest has occurred], it is a complete mystery," Hansen said. "It has been quite the adventure."

Currently, the group is focusing its energy on Earth Week and related events. This year's events will feature the largest celebration of Earth Week yet to happen on campus. "I would really like to see Earth Week be a fun celebration and get people outside and exposed to what is [happening] on campus," Hansen said. An expo in Pulver on Tuesday featured all the environmental groups on campus as well as local retailers, the bookstore and an open turbine with a little windmill. "Earth Day is April 22 and you can't change that, but it's a battle to get students' attention with so many student groups trying to get people's attention." Earth Week occurs directly after Pride Week which is sponsored by the Bridge, which in turn followed a sexual assault awareness week.

In addition to Earth Week, the group has expanded its shoe recycling program to an ongoing clothing drive for local homeless shelters. According to Hansen, the original program, which entailed shipping old shoes to Nike to be recycled, became prohibitively successful. "It was a monster to deal with shipping [so many shoes] to the West Coast," Hansen said. Tucker Gorman '10 is currently in charge of the clothing drive on campus.

Another initiative the group has undertaken is the establishment of a bike program through Pulver. "The group is working pretty autonomously but they are rocking it," Hansen said. Hansen anticipates that the program will allow students to rent bikes for either a day or for the whole semester. EnviroCo has also worked on Recyclemania, a intercollegiate competition which measures recycling on campus.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools