Earth Week 2018: Plant Sale, Recycled Art and More!

Once again, EvCC took Earth Day to a new level, with an entire week of events planned and carried out on campus to bring awareness to issues surrounding the environment, climate change, and resource consumption. After another successful celebration, lets take a look back to see what went down.

Monday, April 16: Electric Vehicles!

Tesla parked in grass. Photo by Matt Henry on Unsplash

Partnering with the Engineering Department, the annual EV display is held the first day of each Earth Week. This event is always a hit with students, as they get the chance to see an in-depth tour of the vehicles and can even try out the drivers seat (without actually driving the vehicle…)

On display you can find EV’s ranging from high-end, expensive Tesla’s, to the more economical Chevrolet Volt, among others.

 

Tuesday, April 17: Plant Swap and Ciscoe Morris

The masterminds behind the Plant Sale, setting up prior to the event

Another favorite of the Earth Week series is the annual Plant Swap and Sale. Here, students, staff and community members can purchase garden starts, seeds, and even take home a vast variety of flowering plants and shrubs for FREE! Perhaps the best part of this event is the presentation given by the eccentric TV personality, Ciscoe Morris!

Top: Kimi Crombie (Administrative Services) posing with Ciscoe. Bottom: Michael Moore and Gwen Bennetts from Purple Cow Gardens

A special thanks this year to Michael Moore and Gwen Bennetts, for providing dozens of veggie starts from their local nursery, Purple Cow Gardens. Estimates of attendance at this event put the number of visitors at nearly 1500 students, employees and neighbors.

 

Wednesday, April 18: Sustainable Vendor Fair

Bagfoot and Sacksquatch pose in front of the Green Fee Initiative banner

The third event in the Earth Week series is the Sustainable Vendor Fair, in which business and community leaders who practice and advocate for sustainability and environmental stewardship are invited to set up booths to sell their products, educate students on their work, and recruit volunteers to help with environmental restoration projects. Some vendors this year were Costco, Everett Transit, and Sno-Isle Co-Op, with many more having been in attendance. Of course, it’s never a truly successful Earth Week without the appearances of Bagfoot and Sacksquatch.

These handmade costumes contain over 500 plastic bags, and are supposed to represent the number of bags an average American uses in a single year. This fun and creative gimmick is a great way to visualize how much plastic we as consumers use without even thinking about it!

 

Thursday, April 19: Electronics Recycling

To wrap up the week-long celebration, we invite 3R Technology to set up shop on campus and give employees and students the chance to recycle their old electronics for free. This year was record breaking, over 4000 lbs. of electronics recycled or safely disposed of!

Earth Art Competition

This years special event was the Earth Art competition. This is a challenge for students and employees to express their creativity and their resourcefulness by creating pieces of art made up of at least 75% recycled, upcycled, or reclaimed materials.

Our winners this year are:

1st Place: Annie Loomis

Annie Loomis won first prize with her piece, titled The Girl with the Newspaper Earring. On her registration form, she notes that most of this piece isn’t what it seems, and that “most of the girls face is actually made out of Mark Zuckerberg’s forehead.” Congrats, Annie!

2nd Place: Karalee Garcia

Karalee took 2nd place with her entry, which she dubbed “Make Tea Not War.” She explains that she is an avid tea drinker and, as such, produces a ton of waste, so this seemed to be a unique opportunity to make something positive with it. Congratulations, Karalee!

3rd Place: Jessica Hall

Jessica’s entry is called “My World,” and is made from a chair that she rescued from the side of the road. She though it would be perfect for this competition, and wanted to give it a new life. “The chair is now the atmosphere, and the center is my world: my family.” Thanks for participating, and congratulations Jessica!

In conclusion…

Thanks to all of you who helped us make Earth Week a success. We couldn’t do it without your generous support and time. Now it’s time to gear up and prepare for next years Earth Week Celebration, and if you’d like to be a part of that, email us at sustainability@everettcc.edu.

Keep on keeping green, everyone!