Fresno State celebrated the 45th anniversary of Earth Day Wednesday with a conservation fair hosted by the Fresno State Sustainability Project at the campus Memorial Garden.
The fair invited clubs and organizations such as the Food Recovery Network, Applied Behavior Analysis Club, the Sun Dogs, Dutch Bros Coffee and others to increase awareness among students regarding environmental issues.
“This fair is to highlight those student groups and to celebrate Earth Day and also to show students what is going on and how they could get involved,” said Earth Day student coordinator Kassandra Hishida.
Students who attended the fair were given an Earth Day “passport” with which they could go around, ask questions listed by the passport at different clubs and have the chance to win prizes once all questions had been answered.
Some highlights of the fair included a tap water taste challenge. Students were asked to taste the difference between bottled water and tap water, encouraging them to use reusable bottles rather than plastic.
More than a dozen items were donated by students and clothing and art supply companies to a “free cycle” event, in which people could donate used items and “upcycle” others.
“It’s really exciting to see people getting so into that,” Hishida said. “Basically, it’s just take stuff, bring stuff, waste less.”
Students also participated in a do-it-yourself booth, making candles and other art projects.
The fair answered student questions on environmental issues, such as the lifecycle of plastic bags, the effects of recycling and other sustainable practices students could use to decrease waste.
“What we’re hoping is that a student could come here and find at least one group that they can connect with their message and would want to get involved in the future,” Hishida said.
One of the organizations present, Landfill Dzine, is a company that recycles irrigation tubing such as rubber, nylon and polyhoses from landfills and transforms them into wearable accessories such as flip flops, bags and other accessories.
Alyssa Smith, director of marketing and sales at Landfill Dzine, said that the Earth Day fair provided a perfect opportunity to let people know more about the firm.
“We are trying to get people to be more aware of our products, and, by being here, more people are actually going to want to listen to what we’re doing,” Smith said.
Psychology major Mallory Lewis said that the fair was very informative.
“I’ve learned some stuff that I would have never known,” Lewis said. “It really makes me interested to know what more can I do to save the environment.”