While Earth Day was celebrated nationally on Sunday, CSU East Bay had its own on campus recognition Tuesday in honor of the 42nd anniversary of the day.

According to Associated Students Inc.’s (ASI) Director of Environmental Affairs, Corrie Christine, it was a day that was put on by multiple groups on our campus.

“It was the idea of the ASI Recreation, Student Health & Counseling Services Health Promotion Department, ASI Environmental Affairs and its committee and the Student Health Center,” Christine explained.

The celebration began at 9 a.m. with an A.L.L. (Air, Land, Lungs) Clear Clean-up, where participants helped pick up cigarette butts which have been improperly disposed of.

Over one gallon of butts were collected and placed in water jugs where employees of the Recreation and Wellness Center (RAW) stood outside displaying how many were collected to the students.

“Every day should be Earth Day,” said Krista Smith, director of the RAW center. “But recognizing Earth Day, traditionally celebrated on the 22, allows us to focus all of our collective energy to inspire and educate students and the campus community about living sustainably.”

  During the celebration the RAW center decided it would be beneficial to give tours of the center, which is according to Smith, designed to a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold standard.

Music was provided during the day as well as other events such as Release the Stress and a Tap vs. Bottle taste test where participants would drink both tap and bottled water and see if they would be able to find the difference between the waters.

“As we began brainstorming activities, it became apparent that we would have a variety of components to spread throughout the day for this celebration,” Smith explained.  

Dr. Michael Lee of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies presented a speech as a part of “A Personal Perspective On What It Means to be Sustainable” in the Diversity Center and was brought in to enlighten students about ways in which our university can become a more sustainable institution.

He is currently serving as campus Faculty in Residence for Sustainability & Pedagogy.

According to Christine, having the event was important to everyone involved with putting it on.

“We all felt that having Earth Day on campus was an absolute must in order to raise awareness amongst the staff and students,” said Christine. “We are hoping that the awareness will influence the CSUEB community to keep our planet healthy and clean.”