Paul Otteson was in Philadelphia in 1970 for the inaugural Earth Day celebration. He was in eighth grade at the time, and he was vividly impressed — being at that celebration changed his life, he said.

Otteson is now the web coordinator at SUNY-ESF, and seven or eight years ago he worked to bring the Earth Day celebration back to the Syracuse community. There was an event in years past, but it had faded out. Otteson worked with SUNY-ESF and the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) to bring the Earthfest celebration to Thornden Park.

“Things are not globally getting better any faster than they are getting worse,” Otteson said. “So I think a rejuvenation and revitalization of Earth Day is a good thing.”

This year’s Earthfest falls on Earth Day — Sunday — and will be at the Thornden Park Amphitheater from 12 to 4 p.m., with pre-event yoga beginning at 11:30 a.m. Event-goers can expect a sustainability-focused event with food, vendors, music and community organizations.

Students of Sustainability, NYPIRG and SU Sustainability Management are some of the key players who work throughout the year with other groups to plan the event. This year’s event is placing emphasis on being waste-free, said Ethan Thompson, project coordinator for NYPIRG at SU and SUNY-ESF. They are encouraging attendees to bring their own reusable water bottles and for vendors to use compostable materials.

Earthfest also aims to inspire engagement around social justice issues, Thompson said, while bringing a more enjoyable side to social advocacy.

“Right now, given everything that is happening in society, it is easy to get gassed out,” he said. “This allows people to come and engage with these issues, to take steps to address a lot of the problems we are facing … but in a fun and enjoyable setting.”

Planning for Earthfest begins during the fall semester, Thompson said, and efforts ramp up when the spring semester starts. Every year after the event, the organizations have a meeting to recap and discuss ways they can improve Earthfest for the next year.

“Every single year it becomes more robust, it becomes a stronger symbol of environmental activism here in Syracuse and we are able to have much larger impacts,” Thompson said.

Melissa Cadwell, sustainability coordinator at Syracuse University, said the SU Sustainability Management team became involved with the event in 2015 to help coordinate who is attending, from organizations to vendors, bands and speakers.

BrainFeeders will return to the event this year to organize composting. The student-run food justice group will set up three garbage cans — one for compost, one for garbage and one for recyclables, said Cait Colton, public relations chair for BrainFeeders.

The composting was successful last year, she said, largely because of the education components. These included labeling and talking with people to help them determine where their trash belongs. Colton, a junior food studies major at SU, said she hopes this will help people to build sustainable practices.

“If people are doing it at the event, maybe they can take that knowledge home with them,” she said.

Students of Sustainability, a student organization at SU, helps to make the event as sustainable as possible, said Anna Christodoulakis, co-vice president of SoS and junior information management and technology major.

Students are often unaware of what is recyclable and what is not, since it varies depending on location and many students aren’t from Onondaga County, she said. If someone recycles something that is not recyclable in this area, the whole batch then becomes unrecyclable. She added that OCRRA, the organization that oversees waste and recycling in Onondaga County, will have a presence at the event to help educate people on recycling.

In addition to the planned vendors, speakers and food trucks, there are always people hula-hooping, blowing bubbles and children with their parents celebrating Earth Day, Christodoulakis said. Ultimately, she said she hopes the event makes sustainability seem more fun and aesthetically pleasing for students who don’t know what it is to live a sustainable life, because it’s easier than people think.

While the original Earth Day was decidedly political, Otteson said now it’s more of a celebration and less of a political event.

“It’s a more relaxed, (celebratory) feel,” Otteson said. “People who attend are sympathetic and aware to a certain point, but there is not a lot of the political intensities. … It’s about celebrating, enjoying the bands and the hope for sunshine.”

Published on April 18, 2018 at 9:59 pm

Contact Taylor: tnwatson@syr.edu