Environmental Club Hosts Sixth Annual Earth Day Fair

The cafeteria was transformed into a scene of commotion as students crowded to attend the sixth annual Earth Day Fair, held by the Environmental Club on Friday, April 20. Students lined up beside tables covered in multi-color tablecloths, in the hopes of partaking in arts-and-crafts activities or viewing poster boards.

The Earth Day Fair focuses on a specific environmental issue each year, and this year’s topic was American environmental policy. Members of the Environmental Club worked in groups to create presentations, with topics ranging from oil drilling to the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget. “[The Earth Day Fair’s goal] is to raise awareness in Stuyvesant so our students can go out there and make a change in the society through their voices,” sophomore and Environmental Club secretary Kenny Wong said.

After investigating water regulatory policies such as the Clean Water Act, which prohibits the discharge of pollutants in certain waters, freshman and Environmental Club member Derek Lao became quite familiar with the subject. “I believe that the US has taken amazing actions to make sure the quality of our water is in check,” he said. “However, there are still bodies of waters in the United States that are hazardous due to the amount of pollutants [and] I feel that more can still be done.”

This kind of information was shared with attendees of the fair both through Club members’ presentations and through other activities. “One of the highlights of the fair was the seed planting. [...] It's a great experience to learn how to plant,” freshman George Zhou said.

The fair also included entertainment such as a StuyFlow demonstration and a student juggling performance.

The Environmental Club hopes to improve upon the fair next year. “We weren’t looking to partner with other clubs this year, [but] that would be our idea next year,” Wong said.

In the meantime, the Environmental Club has many other events planned to raise awareness and improve the environment. These initiatives include terracycle bins, the billion oysters project, a rooftop garden, and a toner recycle program.