Tufts Sustainability Collective hosts Earth Fest

Tufts Sustainability Collective (TSC) is celebrating Earth Fest this week to commemorate the 45th annual Earth Day. Events include locally sourced food at Dewick-MacPhie Dining Hall, a virtual reality simulator of the life of a factory-farmed chicken and an edible campus tour led by Department of Biology Professor George Ellmore.

The Earth Day Fair, held yesterday  on the Academic Quad, featured a clothing swap by the Eco Reps as well as information and activity booths by groups such as the Office of Sustainability, Tufts Bikes, Tom Thumb’s Student Garden and Boston Organics.

“TSC has been actively reaching out to various groups on campus because we believe that everyone has a part to play,” Earth Fest Director Ashlynna Ng, a first-year, said. “Everyone has the capacity to make a difference just by being conscious and making small changes in our lifestyles.”

“Lots of students, faculty and even some non-Tufts students learned about how to lead more sustainable lifestyles and made pledges to do so [at the fair],” Ng said, adding that over 100 pledges were made. Other highlights included free vegan cookie samples from TuftCookie, according to Ng.

“The Tufts community is concerned about social justice, but environmental problems affect marginalized populations disproportionately,” she said. “Moving forward, environmental justice should have a bigger place on our campus.”