Indiana State University Newsroom

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State University will mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on Thursday, April 22 with activities that encourage students and the community to embrace sustainability, recycling and energy saving.

The celebration kicks off at 10 a.m. with ISU President Dan Bradley and Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett turning on the fountain and talking about sustainability. Indiana State will be presented its second Tree Campus USA award.

There will be food, giveaways and dozens of displays, booths and activities for all ages, including environmentally friendly products, community organizations, a poetry slam, and an informational scavenger hunt from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Campus groups will be collecting old cell phones, eyeglasses and empty printer ink cartridges to recycle.

Plants will be available during the festivities. Tree Campus USA will give out 50 dogwood tree seedlings while the ISU Community Garden will be giving away and selling plants.

Four academic classes will have displays related to the day's events. Students in Introduction to Environmental Science will have a video display while students enrolled in Jim Speer's Conservation and Sustainability class will showcase their research in a poster display. Also participating are honors students studying sustainability and students in the SENSER class. Student Government Association will be encouraging activism be having environmental petitions and pledges for participates to sign.

Indiana State faculty, staff and students are encouraged to take advantage of public transportation to celebrate Earth Day. In partnership with the City of Terre Haute, ISU community members can ride the city buses for free. In honor of Earth Day, they can pick up a special pass that the bus driver will punch. They need to bring their punched card to the ISU Earth Day program to be entered in a door prize drawing.

Bus passes are available at the Library, HMSU Information Center desk, 24-hour computing lab, Student Recreation Center, International Affairs and Programs Office, African American Cultural Center, and residence halls.

A collection of sustainability themed art, created by Indiana State art students, will be on display in the Hulman Memorial Student Union Quiet Lounge April 19-23.

American Humanics will sponsor a Goodwill Dump N' Run Drive from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Fifth and Chestnut streets, between Pickerl Hall and the pay lot. ISU faculty, staff, emeriti and students are encouraged to donate unused clothing or household items in good condition.

Earth Day activities will conclude with the showing of "11th Hour" at the Cunningham Memorial Library, beginning at 6 p.m.

Indiana State celebrates Earth Day to promote conservation of resources, innovation of green initiatives, recycling across campus, and environmental responsibility through a collaborative effort between campus and community.

Earth Day was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, as an environmental grass-roots movement to increase support for an environmental agenda. Since then, it has grown, and is now celebrated in over 175 countries, with over 500 million participants worldwide. The results of the first Earth Day caused such environmental reforms as the Clean Air Act, wild lands and the ocean, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

For details on the University's Earth Day events, contact Judy Conner or Anita Gabbard, Hulman Memorial Student Union, at 812-237-3818 or go to http://www.indstate.edu/earthday/  .

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Contacts: Judy Conner or Anita Gabbard, Hulman Memorial Student Union, at 812-237-3818
Writer: Paula Meyer, ISU Communications & Marketing, 812-237-3783 or paula.meyer@indstate.edu