The first annual Earth Fest comes to UF
Gator Growl won’t be the only major student-run production on Flavet Field this year
The Center for Adaptive Innovation, Resilience, Ethics and Science at the University of Florida planned the first annual Earth Fest, occurring this spring semester. Sustainability students intend Earth Fest to be a fun-filled event with live music, arts and tasty local cuisine.
The event will occur on April 9, at the University of Florida’s Flavet Field.
Second-year sustainability major Stephen Paolini, 19, originally thought of the event as a project for one of his classes.
Director of Sustainability Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Professor Leslie Paul Thiele incentivized his students to brainstorm different sustainability ideas on campus by pledging to fund the most creative proposal.
“I wasn’t sure my idea was good enough, but Professor Thiele loved it,” Paolini said. “The only problem was that he didn’t have enough money to actually make it happen.”
Paolini came up with the idea of Earth Fest as a way to allow students to enjoy local food and fresh air while learning how to become eco-friendlier.
“Sustainability is said to be built on a three-legged stool,” Thiele said in a September 2013 interview with The Alligator. “One is environmental health, one is social welfare, and one is economic viability. For something to be sustainable, it has to be economically viable.”
The festival will take place just three days after the UF Campus Earth Day occurring on April 6. The week will be filled with outreach activities that raise sustainability consciousness while promoting ethical and civic behavior.
Paolini said he hopes to have the event green certified through the Sustainable Event Certification Program available at UF.
The Outreach and Communications Coordinator at University of Florida’s Office of Sustainability Allison Vitt said that any event can become green certified to reduce negative impact on the environment.
“We have so much going on here that we really do have to treat it [campus] like a small city and, you know, in order for our campus to continue to be this beautiful great place to learn and to live we really need to be focusing on making sure that it is as sustainable as possible,” Vitt said.
Paolini said the biggest obstacle to planning Earth Fest is raining student awareness about the event since the project is still in its early stages.
“I’m not entirely sure how we’re going to spread the word for this event yet,” Paolini said. “We have a Facebook group and Instagram account so far.”
Other campus sustainability programs are more widely known such as Greeks Going Green.
Daley Donigan, a freshman finance major, interested in minoring in sustainability, attended a Greeks Going Green meeting on Thursday night. He hopes to help his fraternity be more environmentally conscious.
“I think it’s important that as a community we all try to be more aware of little things we can do to be less wasteful,” Donigan said. “At ATO [Alpha Tau Omega] we started using smaller cups and less plasticware.”
Donigan never heard of Earth Fest but would be interested in attending the event being planned by CAIRES.
CAIRES works to advance sustainability science and promote ideals, practices and policies through interdisciplinary research.