Last week the CMU Sustainability Council continued its annual tradition of turning the final week of April into “Earth Week” on campus. 

A variety of events and activities were hosted each day by the Sustainability Council as a way to pay tribute to Earth Day and Arbor Day, the two national environmental holidays observed during the week, by giving students an opportunity to appreciate the surrounding area.

“The week is a way to celebrate the cooperative projects that we have done on campus,” Sustainability Council President Ryan McConnell said. “Everyone who has been a part of the activities we hosted has really enjoyed them.”

Earth Week began with a hike through the popular Independence Monument trail in the Colorado National Monument.

On Tuesday, students went dumpster diving and collected twenty-eight gallons of plastic bottles, ten gallons of cardboard and three gallons of paper from different dumpsters around the university.

Wednesday was Human-Powered Transportation Day, where students were encouraged to avoid using their vehicles and instead use their bikes, skateboards or longboards to get to class and were rewarded with cookies and coffee and also received free bicycle repairs.

A compost gala and silent auction were held on the south patio of the University Center on Thursday as well as an open-house barbeque.

The final day of Earth Week featured a tye-dye station outside of the University Center and a tree planting on the south side of Dominguez Hall, where students and faculty grabbed shovels and planted three trees brought by the Chelsea Nursery in Clifton.

Friday’s tree planting event also solidified CMU as a Tree Campus USA, a designation given to schools for promoting healthy trees and educating students on how to care for trees in urban settings.

Kamie Long, a member of the Colorado State University branch of the State Forest Department explained that while the deed may seem insignificant at first, the trees will resemble the importance of Earth Week and its impact on CMU students.

“I think the Sustainability Council did a great job of organizing this week,” Long said. “The people who help plant these trees will be able to come back to campus and see the work they accomplished while they were students here.”

mfreiter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu