Walla Walla University will be represented by the Environmental Club in an international collegiate environmental competition called MobilizeU.
MobilizeU, a month-long competition that started on March 29, focuses on raising awareness and encouraging students to be a part of reducing their carbon footprint on the environment. Created by Earth Day Network (earthday.org), MobilizeU is currently being hosted on nearly 100 university campuses worldwide, representing 6 continents, 19 countries, and 26 U.S. states.
“MobilizeU is a great competition to participate in because you're helping your school take small steps to becoming more active in living environmentally conscious,” says Kelsey Riederer, a freshman health science major and MobilizeU event coordinator.
“Campus sustainability is clearly a global interest,” says Carra Cheslin, MobilizeU campaign coordinator from Earth Day Network, “and the MobilizeU initiative is fostering a collaborative international community of youth environmental activists and leaders driven by students themselves.”
The competition is based on students’ arrangement and participation in projects, events, and activities that lead up to and follow Earth Day on April 22.
The club’s press release explains, “We’ll calculate ‘acts of green’ from each of these activities by counting the number of hours per person spent planning and implementing an initiative. The universities that generate the most and longest-lasting 'acts of green' will be awarded a prize, so we’ll need the entire WWU campus to help out!”
Various events and activities are planned to give students the opportunity to get involved throughout the month, such as a clothing drive, Earth Day fair, and Service Day.
Riederer hopes the campus will be enthusiastic in joining the MobilizeU movement. “These events are all optional, so it's really up to our campus to decide if they want to get involved in helping sustain our Earth or not,” she said. “Hopefully our campus will take an interest and become more aware of how to live a more environmentally-aware life after this competition, and encourage others to do so as well.”
Updates about MobilizeU events, both locally and internationally, are regularly posted at facebook.com/MobilizeU, and also at earthday.org/MobilizeU. To get involved, contact Kelsey via email at kelsey.riederer@wallawalla.edu.