Taking Root

EarthNow emphasizes its student appeal on campus

March 17, 2009

EarthNow President Kerstin Martin '11, who uses her bike to get around campus, wants students to maintain momentum on the road to sustainability. Students without their own two-wheel transportation can borrow one of Dickinson's iconic red bikes.

Take a hike. Or a bike.

Don't drive solo when others are going your way. And definitely don't drive from one place on campus to another, waste water or toss your plastic bottle in the trash.

Those are just some of the environmental messages EarthNow wants to share with fellow students at Dickinson.

Goals for the 15-member EarthNow relate to one theme: to promote awareness of environmental issues and to help students live more sustainably.

Last month, EarthNow tested a pilot program—a shuttle to the Harrisburg Amtrak/Greyhound station. Volunteers from the club made six trips, transporting 15 people during a single weekend.

"We plan to submit a report to student activities with hopes that it will help establish some sort of regular, or by reservation, service to students," said Kerstin Martin '11, president of EarthNow. "A long-term goal is to work with Capital Area Transit (CAT) on getting [buses] to make a stop on campus and to run over the weekends."

Last month EarthNow participated in Focus the Nation, a nationwide teach-in on global warming, and it will play a key role in EarthFest, a daylong campus event on April 19 featuring activism, entertainment, philanthropy and food. EarthNow's activities include sending letters to politicians on environmental policies, obtaining rain barrels for water recycling, and organizing or participating in major environmental events both on and off campus.

"Students who are interested in a student-run environmental club should come to us," said Martin, an environmental-studies major from Chadds Ford, Pa. "If they want to change something on campus or in the community, we can try to organize something. While our administration is very helpful in working toward sustainability, I think it's important to maintain student interest and momentum, because we are after all the majority on campus, and we have a large effect on the school's sustainability."

To join EarthNow or learn more about the student-run organization, e-mail earthnow@dickinson.edu.