Earth Month was a whirlwind of events at UMD. At the Spring Sustainability Fair, students, staff, faculty and community members attended seminars, and community members.  Attendees also checked out interactive booths from campus and community organizations and artists.

Wondering what the black balloons at the Fair were about? Over 200 balloons were tied onto 40 student backpacks to represent the amount of greenhouse gas emissions on campus per student, per minute. These students also read about the Sustainable Freshman 15, which describes 15 ways to help reduce your carbon footprint while at UMD. The black balloon project was inspired by this video.

The most important thing to take away from these events is that we can celebrate Earth Day all year long.

1. The April 24 campus-cleanup event was only one day, every other day of the semester you can pick up a piece or two of trash walking around on campus.
2. Help the Sustainability Office reach its goal of 1,000 energy pledges: take the UMD Energy Pledge at http://www.d.umn.edu/sustain. You don't have to pledge to do every action on the list- just pick and choose what you can do, or what you think you can start doing.
3. As always, share your ideas and stories with us at sustain@d.umn.edu.

The old adage says actions speak louder than words. You may be surprised how many people will notice when you start doing the little things, like recycling and being more energy conscious.