Students tossed bean bags while answering questions about sustainability Wednesday.
The Office of Sustainability delivered its State of Sustainability Address at the 2016 Campus Earth Day Celebration on the Plaza of the Americas. More than 100 students came by the event to listen to the address and learn about keeping the environment healthy.
Gary Sansone, an 18-year-old UF digital arts and sciences freshman, holds his snake, Naomi, for the UF Wildlife Society at the Earth Day event on the Plaza of the Americas on Wednesday.
Curtis Reynolds, the vice president of business affairs, announced the start of a new program, Neutral UF Coalition, which UF faculty can join to reduce UF’s carbon footprint.
For the program, faculty members give $1 from each paycheck, which goes to We Are Neutral, an organization that aims to balance the amount of pollution created with the amount of pollution reduced, he said. To offset pollution made when faculty drive, they’ll plant trees.
About 35 UF and local environmental clubs set up tables at the event to educate students on living a green lifestyle.
Allison Vitt, the Office of Sustainability outreach and communications coordinator, said the office wanted students to visit all of the tables to learn how they could get involved with sustainability on campus.
“We’re trying to get people to realize there’s something out there for everybody,” Vitt said.
Other activities during the Earth Day celebration included symposium sessions, which taught students green tips.
Danielle Chanzes, a UF sustainability studies junior, said Earth Day is important because it allows people to understand the importance of the environment.
“If we don’t do something to change our behavior now, our world is going to be in great peril,” the 23-year-old said. “It’s really important to let others know what’s happening with our planet, so they can do something about it.”
Manny Rutinel, a 21-year-old UF microbiology and cell science and economics senior, left, promotes the Student Animal Alliance by promoting veganism. Rutinel said it's easy to remember to turn off a faucet while you soap or brush your teeth, but animal agriculture accounts for more environmental problems than any other sector of the environment. "In order to go green, you have to eat green," he said.
