From clean-ups to star parties, ‘Earth Week @ MC’ is a week of education, service and fun
April 6, 2023
Earth Day should be every day, according to Dr. Mark O’Gorman, but a week of activities on the Maryville College campus that reinforce sustainability and environmental conservation efforts makes for great practice.
O’Gorman, a professor of political science and coordinator of MC’s Environmental Studies program, is working with Adrienne Schwarte, professor of design and coordinator of the Sustainability Studies minor; and Dr. Jay Clark, director of environmental and sustainability initiatives at MC, on “Earth Week @ MC” 2023, a weeklong event that begins Monday, April 17.
“We’re pretty excited about it this year,” O’Gorman said. “We’ll be introducing some recycling events that build on a soft rollout we did earlier this year, and Dr. Clark will be working with recycling advocacy students in the Social Action DSNPLS149 class showing off the new bins and giving a presentation about how they’ll be embedded as a feature of every building, both academic and residential, on campus.
“There will be a ‘Stuff Swap’ sponsored by Fit.Green.Happy®. We’re also going to be reviewing the environmental film ‘To The End,’ and what’s nice about that is that my Social Sciences colleague Dr. Andrew Gunnoe (associate professor of sociology) is spearheading that, so it’s been a nice little gang of four of us who have been working on it this year.”
Other activities include collaborations with both Mountain Challenge, the on-campus outdoor adventure organization, and Fit.Green.Happy®, Mountain Challenge’s fitness and health-oriented nonprofit arm; cleanups along campus-adjacent streets and the nearby Little River watershed; an electric car show by the Knoxville Electric Vehicle Association; and more.
“Earth Week @ MC” is designed to lead into Earth Day, observed nationally on Saturday, April 22. The first Earth Day was held in 1970 and is credited with initiating the modern environmental movement, but what began as a fight for clean air and water, O’Gorman said, didn’t fully germinate until the last two decades.
“It’s only been in the last 20 years that we’ve had these conversations about how you really need to think about the triple bottom line of a sustainability framework that measures an organization’s success: profit, people and the planet,” O’Gorman said. “During that time, all of these national organizations began to develop, and Professor Schwarte and I found ourselves going to some of their meetings and bringing those ideas back to Maryville College.”
At MC, two factors played a role in strengthening the institution’s commitment to the environment: the presence of Mountain Challenge and that organization’s commitment to sustainability, and the proximity of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park just a few miles up East Lamar Alexander Parkway. In the fall of 2015, Maryville College launched a minor in Sustainability Studies, and “Earth Week @ MC” has been a regular part of spring programming at MC ever since.
“We certainly see a lot of student passion, especially in conversations about environmental protection and sustainability and issues like climate change,” O’Gorman said. “There’s no doubt a future is coming when we’re going to have to make some complex decisions, and students today will be at the forefront in terms of individual action.
“On top of that, we live near one of the most biodiverse places on Planet Earth in the national park, and we have one of the most beautiful vistas on the far side of the Maryville College Woods. Our students want to maintain those spaces, to make sure they’re protected and preserved, and that generates more interest by them in learning how they can do more.”
Presented in connection with Keep Blount Beautiful, the Little River Watershed Association and Fit.Green.Happy®, Earth Week @ MC events are free. For more information, visit https://www.maryvillecollege.edu/about/inside/sustainability/.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Monday, April 17
12:50 to 1:45 p.m.: Court Street Clean-up with Keep Blount Beautiful and ENV/SUS 101 Spring 2023 Class. Participants will meet outside of Bartlett Hall.
Tuesday, April 18
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: “Stuff Swap” with Fit.Green.Happy.® and Scots for Recycling Awareness (SRA). The information table will be set up in front of Pearsons Hall.
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Documentary screening of “To the End,” followed by an environmental discussion, in the Lawson Auditorium of Fayerweather Hall. (Pizza, snacks and drinks will be provided.)
Wednesday, April 19
10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Electric car show by Knoxville Electric Vehicle Association on the quad in front of Pearsons Hall.
3:30 to 6 p.m.: Camp4 activities, (climbing, yoga, etc.) sponsored by Mountain Challenge at the Crawford House
Thursday, April 20
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Little River clean-up by Spring ENV 231 Class and the Little River Watershed Association (LRWA). Email andrew.gunnoe@maryvillecollege.edu for details
Friday, April 21
12:30 to 1:45 p.m.: Environmental education activities by the ENV/SUS 101 Spring 2023 class and the MC Environmental Action Team (EAT), in front of Pearsons Hall
7:30 to 10 p.m.: “Dark Sky Party” featuring s’mores, hosted by the MC EAT on Lloyd Beach beside Crawford House
Saturday, April 22
9 to 10:30 a.m.: Fit.Green.Happy.® walk to the Maryville Farmer’s Market. Email jackie.eul@maryvillecollege.edu for details