For this year, ‘Planet vs. Plastics’ is the official theme of Earth Day, an annual holiday reserved for raising awareness, support, and demonstrations surrounding environmental protection. And this past Thursday, a plethora of clubs came together to do exactly that in the Carr Center for the Respect the Nest arranged ‘Earth Day Fair’ event.
Well over 15 different groups and their respective representatives set up booths, posters, interactive activities, food, info sessions, and more all in a collective effort to shed some light on larger environmental issues impacting the planet, and provide insight on their own clubs unique contributions or attempts at keeping the student body informed.
And while there’s certainly no doubt that the fair was well attended, the tale behind the creation of Saint Anselm’s first large scale Earth Day event, coupled with the reception towards it and gripes many of the students directly involved have towards the school’s handling of certain environmental problems is far more storied.
“I think the event went really well, especially for the first time we’ve done something like this,” said Eileen Campbell ’24, one of the reps for the Green Team club at the Earth Day Fair, and the sentiment was reflected upon a number of students. Katy Scali ’27, a member of the Hiking Club stated that it was a “really successful event, [I] learned about so many different clubs on campus;[I] learned how even if a club isn’t an environmental one, it can contribute to these issues.”
The appreciation for the club’s ability to hit some major environmental issues was also voiced by Brianna Portillo ’27, the Intercultural Center representative who also mentioned her own club’s efforts. “The event is going very well, I’ve loved all the questions about the Intercultural Center, and the Indigenous Environmental Practices. I love the curiosity and willingness to learn,” Portillo said. That willingness to learn permeated throughout the event as a number of students and staff attended each booth and learned about various different topics being presented on by each club. An example of one such activity was shared by Jake Strittmatter ’27, president of the Hiking Club. He organized the Leave No Trace, which is “teaching people about respecting the environment when hiking,” Strittmatter said.
The eagerness towards the pursuit of knowledge isn’t the same energy necessarily shared with attending students’ thoughts on the school’s attempts to enact change around environmental issues. Israel Small ’26 of the Men of Color club claimed that “there’s been a lot of agitation from the student body about recycling bins being more prominent. They already have a lot of water stations, but that doesn’t change the fact that the most popular items at Dave are LIFE water bottles, which are made of plastic, which seems counterintuitive.”
Small said “the two things people want most are recycling bins and water bottle stations.” The desire for recycling bins seemed to be shared by Campbell, who said that “I think it would be really nice to see the school add more recycling bins.” Campbell also affirmed that The Green Team and Respect The Nest have collaborated to get some changes in that regard rolling, saying that “ultimately [it] falls upon the students.”
The appreciation for Respect The Nest in its attempts to get the ball rolling on change seemed to be shared, as Haroula Tsolakidis the Intercultural Center Administrative Assistant stated “ it’s very impressive that Respect the Nest has the support of all campus admins and staff and it’s Respect the Nest [that] has built so much in the past few years and even though they have more to do, it’s a great start.” She did, however, pivot focus from the recycling bins and water station grievances of the previous, and said “one thing that’d be really cool to see is if we had environmental grants like we do for the D.I.F grants to help fund initiatives led by students.”
With the spotlight shifting to Respect The Nest due to a number of students looking forward to the future of environmental issue addressment, the ambition behind the creation of the Earth Day Fair will no doubt be a rousing encouragement. An interview with RTN Co-Chair, Hannah Peterson ’24 lent some insight into the development of the event, and the process was certainly an intricate one. “There were many logistics behind hosting the Earth Day Fair, one main one being contacting groups to participate in the event… Once we had commitment from groups, we asked each of them to discuss one environmental topic, and everyone did an amazing job,” Peterson said.
As for who they collaborated with, Peterson cited a great amount of appreciation for the staff at SEAL, Event Services, and Physical Plant. “We also owe a huge thank you’s to the SEAL staff and Event Services that helped us organize the logistics of the event, as well as Physical Plant staff that set up the event… I am so happy that Respect the Nest was able to host an event that brought our Anselmian community together,” Peterson said.