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“Lunch with the Bird Man” in the Farinon Center atrium will feature Tom Nelson and Hope Anwyll, directors of the Pennsylvania Raptor and Wildlife Association, a nonprofit, wildlife education facility based out of their home, just off Route 611 in Mount Bethel. They will appear with their traveling “wildlife ambassadors,” including a bat, king snake, bald eagle, and hawk, and will talk about interactions between humans and wildlife.
Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection planned the presentation and several other events to celebrate Earth Week.
“The purpose of Earth Week is to educate people about environmental issues and teach them why they should care about the environment,” says chemical engineering major Alanna Cleary ’03 (Bloomsburg, Pa.), former LEAP secretary. “The week is about environmental awareness, appreciation, and education.”
The week is an extension of the original Earth Day, and LEAP members have organized activities that reflect “green” thinking.
“We hope that students will see our events and, as a result, think a little more about the environment every day,” says Cleary. “We hope to raise the consciousness of environmental issues so that maybe people will think twice next time they go to throw out a recyclable can or piece of paper.”
On Wednesday and Friday at noon in the Farinon Center atrium, students will have the opportunity to participate in two fun activities: planting a flower bulb on the Quad and making a notebook using the blank sides of used paper.
A concert will take place 8 p.m. Friday at Gilbert’s, featuring performances by student music groups and “environmental commercials” such as skits or poetry readings about the environment.
LEAP and friends will spend all day Saturday at Jacobsburg Park planting trees and cleaning up. The group will leave around 10 a.m. and return about 3 p.m. To express interest in participating, contact Jessica Zafonte ’06 (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), LEAP vice president, at zafontej.
To close out the week, LEAP will run a recycling floor program 8 p.m. Sunday, April 27, at P.T. Farinon House, teaching residents why recycling is important, what is recyclable at Lafayette, and other things they can do to make a difference for the environment.
“The focus of this year’s Earth Week is much more hands-on than in past years,” Cleary says. “There are participatory, enjoyable events that show how our actions affect animals (the Bird Man), how reusing things can be easy (notebook making), and how nature can be beautiful (bulb planting).”
LEAP has a day trip planned for Sunday, May 4, to canoe down the Lehigh River and pick up trash from the river and riverbank.
“It’s a lot of fun, especially in nice weather, and is a great study break,” says Cleary.
LEAP also has an ongoing campaign to improve the recycling program at Lafayette, which is gaining momentum. The group is working with faculty and administration to develop a recycling policy for implementation this fall.
Besides Zafonte, LEAP officers Maura Allaire ’06 (Bristol, Conn.), president; electrical and computer engineering major Kristen Radecsky ‘04 (Flemington, N.J.), treasurer; Shawn Kuhn ‘06, (Moscow, Ohio), secretary; and Josh Porter ‘06 (Pittstown, N.J.), morale officer. LEAP has approximately 40 active members.
The first Earth Day occurred in 1970, when U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson inspired Denis Hayes and a group of Berkley University students to organize environmental activities based on the recent civil rights and antiwar sit-ins. Twenty million North Americans came together, sparking the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as laws on clean air and water, and endangered species protection.