Clark to Celebrate Earth Day with Go Green on the Green 2013

Friday, April 19, 2013

Jeffrey Starr, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Clark is committed to leading the city of Worcester on a sustainable energy path.

Celebrate Earth Day Clark-style on Saturday at Go Green on the Green 2013. As the name suggests, the series of fun, environmentally-friendly activities will take place on the Clark University Green beginning at 1 pm on April 20th. (Note: Due to expected weather conditions, the event has been moved inside the Kneller Athletic Center)

The festival is organized by Clark University's Eco-Reps and is co-sponsored by the Clark Sustainability Collaborative, SAVVY, and Food Truth. There will also be numerous other environmental organizations on hand. Visitors will enjoy free food, great music, a special guest speaker (Simon Davis Cohen, Co-editor of the online publication Read the Dirt), giveaways and prizes, raffles, special presentations and so much more. All power used at the event will be offset using New England Wind by MassEnergy.

"The festival represents a showcase of sustainability at Clark, and helps bring environmentalism to the forefront of students' minds for the day. It is a chance to celebrate the progress Clark has made in regards to sustainability in recent years, and seize momentum from that progress to impact future years. The event connects regional environmental groups to students on campus.," says David Gross, Co-Facilitator and Treasurer for Clark University Eco-Reps.

Enjoyable and Energetic Activities

The activities of the day are meant to enjoy but also designed to educate. For instance, a large black balloon will be on the campus green meant to represent one ton of carbon emissions to give those in attendance a more tangible idea of what one ton of carbon really looks like.

"Clark's mission of Challenging Convention; Change our World challenges students to think of ways to improve our planet. The mission of Earth Day, to celebrate the earth and advocate sustainability, is perfectly in line with Clark's mission for a better world and planet," says Gross.

Food choices will include Jamaican vegetarian patties from One Love Cafe and grilled veggie burgers. The bands scheduled to perform include the aptly named Big Tree, The Four Legged Faithful, and Juru Zen.
All proceeds raised from the raffle ($1 per ticket) and 20% of the money raised from each purchase of band merchandise will be donated to the Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees Initiative to save the Atlantic Forest in Brazil.

In addition, Food Truth and Clark's President David P. Angel will join the Real Food Challenge, pledging 20 % real food on campus by 2020.

An Event Important to the Community

All residents of the Worcester area are encouraged to attend.

"The event is open to the local community, which we believe is extremely important. Beyond just attendance and entertainment, Clark is looking to take the lead in making Worcester a sustainable city, and initatives at Clark are key to this. Also, through the involvement of local organizations, those organizations are able to recruit talent from Clark's student body... We hope attendees leave inspired to join the movement for sustainability in order to protect our world," Gross remarks.

For more information about this event and the Clark University Eco-Reps please click here. The Kneller Athletic Center is located at 57 Downing Street in Worcester.