a Green Generation

Earth Day at SDSU on April 22

provided by e3

Earth Day will be an annual ritual celebrated at San Diego State University on April 22. Enviro-Business Society (e3) has launched a campaign that will bring the San Diego community together every year to celebrate the planet and spread awareness of sustainable lifestyles.

“This is a green generation. We are asking the student body and community to join us to celebrate the progression of this movement. The philosophy is that we come together now and show our passion for the common good of the future,” says Erica Johnson, co-president of e3.

On April 22, this year’s event will hold an Earth Fair where sustainable businesses and organizations will be available for consumer networking and professional opportunities.

“We are allowing students to pursuit their interest in the cause by giving them the opportunity to meet future employers. If they don’t want to work for a socially responsible business, they will gain product knowledge and hopefully make lifestyle decisions accordingly,” says Johnson.

On April 22, there will be a Cultural Drum Circle where the SDSU community will come together to celebrate diversity and raise money for underdeveloped countries that are suffering from the effects of climate change, through the organization Oxfam.

“It is important for our event to recognize Earth Day on a global perspective. Students at SDSU are passionate about philanthropy work. Having the cultural drum circle will allow the event to be social and serve the cause,” says Amanda Costa, co-president of e3.

There will also be a Green Building Expo that will consist of high-profile speakers who advocate the integration ecology, ethics, and economics which are the founding principles for Enviro-Business Society. The speakers will discuss LEED Certification and green building practices.

“The expo will be the educational platform for our event. We are incorporating different on-campus organizations, specifically the Real Estate Society (RES), to help tackle the different elements and have a keynote speaker panel,” says Costa.

Enviro-Business Society will also have their Globe of Waste exhibit on campus.

E3 has been collecting the SDSU bulletin board waste from the Campus Sweep program since November 2007 and have taken the paper, which is not typically recycled, and created a giant paper machete globe.

“We want Earth Day 2008 to have shock-factor that will make the students more aware of their everyday surroundings and the environmental impact that they make. We want everyone to take note of their ecological footprint,” says Johnson.

Earth Day will be making history on the SDSU campus with its solar concert. A solar stage provided by Sustainable Waves will be brought to the Aztec Green, the area just below the MTS trolley station. President Weber has made the exception for Earth Day to host an evening concert in an area that is typically not allotted to host events.

“Our organization has celebrated Earth Day on-campus since its founding year, 2005. This is the first time, however, where we have incorporated other organizations and all of the students at SDSU to help with the implementation of the event. San Diego State and the student body are leading the way in this generational shift. It’s a great accomplishment,” says Johnson.

Enviro-Business Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit student organization. Their mission is to promote awareness of the beneficial relationship from integrating ecology, ethics and economics into business practices. The organization works on different activism projects and events according to the theme of each semester. e3 has an executive board that meets once a week for two hours. General member meetings are bi-weekly.