Kait Freeberg
Special to Mustang News
Hosted by the Empower Poly Coalition in collaboration with the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) Center for Sustainability, the first Earth Day Sustainability Fair will take place in the Multi-Activity Center in the Recreation Center from 4-6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
“There have been things similar in previous years. I am not sure if they are going to make it annual, but this is the first one they have done,” said Hunter Francis, director of the Center for Sustainability. “This will be an opportunity for students to become of aware of different initiatives going on. And also an opportunity for different people on campus to meet each other and see what one another are doing.”
This free event will show off the various initiatives involving sustainability, both on campus and in the San Luis Obispo community.
Perch, a local band, will play at the fair. Other activities will include DIY Sustainable Living Projects, a green wellness center and refreshments, including a chocolate fountain and coffee, put on by the Fair Trade Club.
“Honestly, I think people are going to walk away with what we call ‘focus hangups,'” said Katherine Favor, vice president of the Empower Poly Coalition and wine and viticulture senior. “Empower Poly Coalition is going to have a wellness area, and we are going to have cookware that doesn’t give off toxic metals. We are going to have a library where people can read books and hang out and have discussions — so even if people are drawn in by the chocolate fountain, they will walk away with much more.”
Favor said they have been working as a team to put on the fair since early winter quarter.
“It’s been a long process, but it’s been fun,” she said.
Other Earth Week events include a Geology Club trip to Poly Canyon on Wednesday, a showing of “Dirt the Movie” on Friday and the San Luis Obispo Earth Day Fair and Music Festival on Sunday.
“We really wanted to get involved in this because a lot of students want to be sustainable, but they just don’t know how to. We wanted this event to bridge the gap between the community and Cal Poly,” Favor said.