51福利社

Earth Day Fair 2016

51福利社 celebrates Earth Day each year with a fair to raise awareness and demonstrate support for the environment. Earth Day celebrations will take place Friday, April 22, starting at 9 a.m. in the Campus Mall.

鈥淭his year the kind of theme our fair is going to focus on is reusing, repurposing items that would normally be considered waste,鈥� Earth Day committee chairperson Scott Buck said.

The Campus Mall will hold 15 vendor tables in the area, each displaying sustainability efforts in different departments across campus. New activities this year include a reusable bottle giveaway, bicycle tune-up station with a commute signup, a cheap bike sale and student recycled art competition.

鈥淭he most important part of [this event] is that we鈥檙e getting out there, trying to educate the community and get students involved with what鈥檚 going on on-campus,鈥� Buck said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about how we can change our behavior to have a more sustainable future.鈥�

Electric vehicle charging stations

51福利社 is also celebrating Earth Day by introducing its four new electric vehicle charging stations as part of its sustainability program.

Two electric charging units are located in front of 51福利社鈥檚 Computing and Engineering Building and another two are located outside the campus Visitor Center. The ribbon-cutting and an electric car show will take place at 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 22, in the Visitor Center parking lot.

鈥淭he idea was to install the electric vehicle charging stations so that folks who have electric vehicles would be attracted to drive those to campus instead of something else, and we wanted to give them the infrastructure to do that,鈥� Buck said.

Engineering student Adam Zurligen got word of the electric vehicle charging station installation and, as a self-described electric vehicle enthusiast, wanted to help. Zurligen introduced the idea of an electric car show after the charging stations are presented, which will feature at least three privately owned electric vehicles.

鈥淓lectric vehicles are much more efficient. They have many more benefits and advantages over gasoline engine vehicles,鈥� Zurligen said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e different, strange and new to people. People are hesitant to try new things, even if it鈥檚 something that they rely on every single day.鈥�

Zurligen hopes the event will educate individuals on the benefits of electric vehicles in addition to other sustainable efforts.

鈥淎 lot of people see climate change all over the news and think, 鈥楾here鈥檚 really nothing I can do. I can鈥檛 buy an electric vehicle.鈥欌�� Buck said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to see all the little things we can do that if we do them all together, we can make a big difference.鈥�

Parking costs $1.25 per hour鈥�75 cents per hour to park and 50 cents per hour for the electricity use. Meters must be paid and the vehicles must be charging to park at designated electric charging stations. Parking in these spots has a four-hour maximum time limit.