On April 22, students and faculty gathered at SCADpad to celebrate Earth Day at the Footprint: Earth Day Fair hosted by the Student Green Initiative, a club that “promotes and educates sustainable practices.” Footprint: Earth Day Fair is an annual event that includes live music, workshops and free food all to celebrate the environment and practice sustainability through fun activities. This year, the event didn’t disappoint as SCADpad was bustling with energy and Earth Day fun. Tables of activities were lined around the perimeter of the walls such as live music, art supply giveaways, a poster contest, recycled paper-making and a 3D design table.
The paper-making table featured an interactive demonstration where you could create sheets of paper with used and torn up scraps of syllabi. Students Gabi Madrid and Meredith Heifler were demonstrating the process. Madrid organized the activity to be presented at the event and Heifler explained the process.
“We wanted to make it as approachable as possible so that people could make paper at home,” said Heifler. “We used basic appliances like a blender, to make pulp out of the paper, and an iron and ironing board to set the paper and help it dry. [Madrid] made a mold and deckle out of a picture frame and mesh, to scoop the pulp out of the tub and help it dry.”
Heifler also said that Madrid had the goal of showing students that being eco-friendly isn’t hard. The paper came out very durable would be great as note-taking material or for class projects.
We had the chance to talk to foundations professor Carl Linstrum, who’s also the Vice Chair of the Atlanta sustainable practices council at SCAD. Earlier this year the council hosted a table with donated supplies. From sketchbooks to erasers, you could find almost anything you needed for class. Their mission was not to just give away free art supplies but, “to enlighten the student body on the research, content development and direct initiatives,” Linstrum said.
The council surveyed students on their experience. And overall, feedback was positive — a huge success for the group. They hope to continue doing their part while also working alongside with other groups at future events. You can read more about ways you can recycle and learn about the council here.
Experiencing the event first-hand was amazing. Students and faculty that were involved presented many creative ideas for recycling everyday items. A lot of things in your home provide the perfect opportunity to create and come up with new ideas.
