Since April 22, 1970, people all around the world have come together to celebrate the beauty of the natural world on what is the largest worldwide secular holiday, Earth Day. However, the U of M will be celebrating today.
Today from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., the TIGUrS Oasis Garden, located behind the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, will be holding its 3rd annual Earth Day celebration.
"It'll be a fun day. We have lots of prizes to give away, people face painting and of lot of other entertainment," said U of M Director of Animal Care Karyl Buddington. "It's just going to be a lot going on, and of course we will have free healthy food."
Along with face painting and prizes, the event will feature some local artists and musicians who will be performing over the course of the day. There will also be a Zumba participation exercise going on to help encourage healthy living.
"This will be a learning activity for students, staff and faculty," U of M Sustainability Coordinator Amelia Mayahi said. "Hopefully people will take these ideas home with them and start a garden at their house, or maybe even their community."
The event was set up by a few of the University's sustainability organizations, including Tiger Blue Goes Green.
"It's so important for our students to recognize that our actions today and tomorrow will have a huge impact on our environment in the future," Buddington said. "I hope our students will leave here thinking in a proactive way and asking themselves, 'What can I do to help save the environment?'"
"When you have that way of thinking, you're going to make really big changes in the long-run," Buddington said.
Pamela Denney, a professor of journalism at the U of M, attended an Earth Day festival in 1970 - the first year it was organized - in Washington D.C. She believes that as a school we need to continue promoting the importance of preserving our planet.
"Earth Day raises awareness about how volatile our planet is. It's young people's biggest responsibility to take care of the planet. We should do anything we can to raise the awareness of how important maintaining a sustainable lifestyle is," Denney said.
All students, faculty and staff are welcome to come celebrate at the garden today. Along with entertainment, the event will provide attendees with tips on gardening and information on eating healthier.
"Our university works hard everyday. Everyone should take a minute out of their day for themselves and come out to the garden to have a good time," Buddington said. "Take advantage of being able to go outside."
Along with being a part of Earth Day history, Denney is also the author of 'The Food Lover's Guide to Memphis,' which was written with an emphasis on locally grown food.
"People in the 'Green Movement' believe local food is a much better way to eat; it's more sustainable, it makes sense," Denney said. "You don't spend gas and fuel bringing the food here from across the county. It's not just that locally grown food is more nutritious and tastes better, it has to do with helping sustain the planet."
Local organic food vendors and Memphis companies that promote sustainability will be in attendance at the event, trying to help convert Memphis into a more sustainable city.
"This is important. We need to be pushing our community to buy local," Mayahi said. "We need to take responsibility for ourselves and be healthy. This garden proves to people that even with land restrictions it's possible to live a healthy lifestyle."
The original Earth Day was picked for April 22nd so that students could be more available to attend, not being during exam week or the often-hectic spring break.
"It's the end of the semester; everyone is feeling good and getting ready for the summer. I think it's a good time for everyone to come enjoy being outside and together," Mayahi said. "Human to nature and human to human, it's a beautiful thing."
To help keep the planet in working order, everyone has to do their fair share of maintenance. Recycling, eating locally and keeping yourself fit are great ways to help. However, spreading awareness to friends and families about the seriousness of the situation plays a huge factor as well.
"Its great that I put all my bottles in a recycling bin, but if you get a whole University recycling its bottles, it'll be exponentially more significant," Denney said.
