Sustainability Day isn’t a national holiday like Earth Day, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be celebrated right. There can never be too much environmental awareness, especially on a college campus.

On Wednesday Oct. 23, sustainability was celebrated at the University of New Haven, with the UNH Green Team and USGA Sustainability Committee, who paired up for a few events to raise awareness of the environmental movement.

First, there was a “Get Caught Recycling” competition, where members of the club and committee went around photographing people who were recycling. Unfortunately, not too many were spotted.

At 5 p.m., there was a Recycling Competition in the Quad. This event included a huge bin of various items, and two students would go head-to-head putting what they considered “recyclables” in one bin, separate from trash, which was put in another bin.

Some things, like paper and bottles were clearly recyclables, but others such as pill sheets, granola bar wrappers, and batteries confused some people. Many freshman stopped by to play the game, and Green Team was able to inform them on which items are and aren’t recyclable here on our campus. Plastic bags, for example, can be recycled at other locations, but they aren’t recyclable on our campus. Envelopes were the item that gave people the most difficulty. Most people think they can be recycled because envelopes are paper, but the little plastic window they have on one side prevents that. The three students with the highest scores from the Recycling competition each won gift cards.

At 7 p.m., Sustainability Committee and Green team had a blackout in the Quad. The point of this was to get people to turn off their lights and unplug their electronics, while enjoying company and food in the Quad. ORL and OSA provided cookies for the event, where students could frost and decorate them with sprinkles, and drink hot chocolate.

Michelle Murphy, President of Green Team, said, “I think it was a slow start, but once people knew that we were out in the Quad, a lot more people started joining us. It was a great success to have so many students come to our Campus Sustainability Day events and allowed us to educate them a little more on sustainability.”

Students stopped by the event to offer suggestions on recycling and sustainability on our campus. If you have any questions on these matters, check the school website, or send email suggestions to [email protected].