Marist Celebrates Earth Week
Students paint and fill water bottle planters--one of the many activities offered during this year's Earth Week celebration. Source: Emma Denes '25
During Marist’s College’s Earth Week celebration, a variety of campus organizations and local companies joined forces to encourage Marist students to dedicate themselves to sustainability and environmental protection between April 20 and 23.
"It's a great time and a great week to advocate for the stuff that we work on every day because there's already so much other awareness going on, so people are paying attention to it," said Samantha Roberts ‘24, co-president of Students Encouraging Environmental Dedication (SEED).
On Wednesday, booths and tables were set up in the Murray Student Center rotunda for students to engage with environmental topics.
First up was a station led by SEED, Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), and Marist's chapter of Habitat for Humanity, where students painted and filled their very own plastic water bottle planters. The bottles were collected from bins set up around the student center, and those left over from the event will be donated to charity.
Next to this was the composting demonstration hosted by Katelyn Grano '22, the college composting coordinator. She has worked with her father to lead composting initiatives in her local area and was excited to finally bring her passion to campus after the delay of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We've been trying to get composting programs into our schools for a while now…so it's something that I've been passionate about for a really long time, and I'm really happy to say that we'll be able to bring the program to Marist," she said.
The new program allows Marist sophomores, juniors and seniors living in townhouses or apartments to receive a free personal composting bin, which operates on an aerobic composting system. "It basically means that any organic material that is not meat, dairy or fish can go in the compost," Grano said.
Once a student's bin is full, they can take it to a drop-off location on campus, where their compost will then be placed in the Marist community garden beds. But the ultimate goal is for so much compost to be generated that it can then be donated to local organizations like clubs and other gardens.
Students also had the chance to learn about two businesses committed to environmental stewardship.
511NY Rideshare helps New Yorkers locate suitable transportation alternatives, and the company plans on creating a custom online portal for Marist students, faculty and staff to engage with its most popular tool, a carpool ride matching system.
"You log in, you say, 'I'm going from point A to point B, this time of day,' and it matches you with carpool mates," said Ella Rosenkranz, a sustainable mobility specialist for the program.
Also present at the event was Bewegen, a Canadian company that provides an e-bike rental service for consumers, and passersby were given the opportunity to go for a ride. Since the Dutchess County Urban Trail will soon extend onto the Marist campus, more students and staff than ever before will be able to bike on a regular basis.
Participants had the chance to try out riding e-bikes, something that Marist students and staff might do once the Dutchess County Urban Trail is complete. Source: Emma Denes '25
According to Kim Bodendorf, the associate director of Marist's physical plant, studies have shown that compared to regular bikes, e-bikes might actually lead to a better workout, since they can take the rider on longer and further distances. "It's more accessible to students who may not be able to ride a regular bike due to arthritis. They can ride this bike a lot further than a regular bike or if they couldn't even ride at all," she said.
Later in the week, SEED planted vegetables in its new bed in the campus garden. The biggest rule in the garden is that at least 50% of everything that is grown must be donated, including to organizations in the Poughkeepsie, New York community, such as Dutchess Outreach.
"A lot of what we do in the garden is trying to increase student and community engagement to help provide resources for people who need them," said Jessica Hawkins '22, the Marist garden intern and founder of the campus garden club.
In addition, the Campus Sustainability Advisory Committee relaunched its electronic recycling event, working with Regentech to collect e-waste donations via a drive-thru drop-off location next to the McCann Center. The event was so successful that it was extended for four more days, and the amount of electronics donated filled over 12 gaylord boxes, according to Bodendorf.
"It's about keeping that stuff out of landfills and making sure that we're responsible for one precious Earth that we have," she said.
Just before the conclusion of all the festivities, the Marist fashion program solidified its commitment to protecting the environment with a clothing swap and Ethereal, a sustainable design exhibit. And finally on Saturday, environmental science capping students organized a community cleanup of the Fall Kill Stream tributary.
The goal of these kinds of events is to increase environmental awareness amongst Marist students and to inspire passion for preserving the natural world.
"We know all the opportunities, and we're always involved in being outside and hands-on learning experience, and we want to turn that over for other students and create an environment where people can also experience those things, but more just for fun,” Roberts said.