The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Nick Hart UConn President Mike Hogan tests a fuel-cell hybrid go-kart as part of the Earth Day celebration on Fairfield Way Wednesday afternoon. The even featured performances, food and a UConn dairy cow.

A wacky, waving, inflatable, arm-flailing tube man beckoned people to join the crowd at UConn's Earth Day celebration Wednesday afternoon. A friendly atmosphere filled Fairfield Way as vendors, representatives from student groups and demonstrators eagerly talked with passersby about environmental issues.

Dining Services provided a locally sourced barbecue complete with disposable plates made of corn. Vivian, a UConn dairy cow, was brought to the festivities so people could pet her in appreciation for her milk, which is made into Dairy Bar ice cream.

The event, a partnership between EcoHusky, the Office of Environmental Policy and Dining Services, worked to "promote and encourage all things environmental," according to Catherine Pomposi, a 6th-semester environmental analysis and statistics major and Earth Day coordinator.

Waste stations that lined Fairfield Way educated attendees as to what waste should be thrown out, recycled or composted - an often forgotten way to dispose of many paper and food products.

"We want to promote sustainable living, not just recycling," said Kayleigh Lombardi, a 6th-semester political science and environmental studies major and EcoHusky volunteer.

UConn is sustainable in other arenas as well.

"Today's barbecue is being powered by biodiesel made from the dining halls' and the Student Union's waste cooking oil," said Alyssa Midgette, an 8th-semester chemical engineering major who staffed the biodiesel display. "Undergraduate chemical engineering students produce about 50 gallons of biodiesel a week, which is blended with regular diesel to fuel the campus buses."

Bicycle cabs weaved in and out of the crowd as brightly dressed performers on stilts, demonstrators from fitness hula hooping and Healthy Husky veggies danced around the UConn seal.

"This is the best Earth Day of my life," smiled Jen Corcoran, a 4th-semester double engineering major. "I work at catering and whenever we have to dress up, I always shotgun the carrot suit. I'm so happy to be helping Dining Services support local foods."       

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