Tending to the place we live

The IU and Bloomington communities will celebrate the 35th annual Earth Day today by holding a variety of events and activities today and throughout the week promoting conservation, environmentalism and working to make Bloomington a better place to live.\n"Earth Day is an important day where people can come together and celebrate the natural wonders we are blessed with and appreciate," said senior and President of the Student Environmental Action Coalition Brent Woodruff. "The international environmental movement has given Earth Day to look into the serious problem the world faces today."\nThe focal event commemorating Earth Day is the Earth and Music Festival, which will take place at Dunn Meadow from noon to 10 p.m. today. Sponsored by SEAC and the IU Council for Environmental Stewardships, the event will feature speeches, music and dozens of organizations hosting informational tables.\n"This will be a wonderful celebration of our Earth and all of its beauty," said Vanessa Caruso, chair of the Indiana Public Interest Research Group. "The \ncelebration will begin at noon with an address by Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan."\nAdditional speakers at the event will include environmentalists Maria Gunnoe, Drury Gunn Carr and Andy Mahler. Music will feature performances by Veranda trio, Baby Chicago & the Brothers Cool, Big Saturday and the national touring Groovatron.\nOne of the highlights of the festival will include the public unveiling of Pizza Express' newly acquired environmentally friendly electric car. The company will also sell pizza throughout the event. \nINPIRG will raffle prizes from local businesses. Throughout the past week in locations at the Indiana Memorial Union, Ballantine Hall and the Kelley School of Business, INPIRG has been giving away the raffle tickets to any student who brings in a copy of the Indiana Daily Student that they finished reading or found on the floor.\n"We are promoting recycling and respect for our environment," Caruso said. "It's ridiculous that it is acceptable for people to just leave their papers lying all over the place."\nThe Earth and Music Festival is just one of many events being featured as part of the BloomingTree Celebration, sponsored by INPIRG, SEAC, CFES, the Residence Hall Association and Bloomington, among others.\n"The BloomingTree Celebration is a community-wide event that incorporates a variety of Earth Day and Arbor Day activities into one unified community calendar," Caruso said.\nBloomingTree features daily environmental events occurring throughout Bloomington that have been ongoing since April 16 and will continue through April 30. Some of the highlights include an Earth Exposition at Sole Sensations parking lot from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday; an Earth Day Farmers Market Fair from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday; and Sunday afternoon will feature citywide neighborhood tree planting. A full list of events and times can be found at www.BloomingTree.org.\nThe Kelley School of Business got an early start on Earth Day, holding its fourth annual Environmental Exposition and Earth Day Ceremony Thursday. During the event, three companies were presented with the Kelley Green Awards for distinguishing themselves as environmentally friendly. Also, an Earth Art expo was held throughout the day featuring student art consisting of sculptures made of recycled materials, environmental photographs and open art.\n"The goals of the earth art expo is to get students to think deeply about how business and the environment are related and the importance of keeping the relationship positive," said Robert Smith, the Kelley School of Business environmental policy committee chair. "The Kelley Green Awards show students that successful companies are working to minimize their negative impact on the environment and that people notice this and care about it."\nWhile Earth Day is just one day, to make an impact people should practice environmentally conscious acts all the time, local activists say.\n"What would be far more powerful in changing human behavior would be year-round efforts at every level and in all institutions of society," said School of Environmental and Public Affairs professor Paul Schneller. "Top-down and bottom-up leadership and participation are critical."\nEnvironmentalists also encourage individual actions on a regular basis to help conserve the planet and its resources.\n"For individual, think walking, bicycling, car pooling, combining trips when you do have to drive a vehicle and choosing a vehicle with higher mileage -- including the newer hybrids," Schneller said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Trevor Brown at brownta@indiana.edu.