Campus Sustainability Council hosting Earth Day event April 22

Flyer provided by the Campus Sustainability Council. Jia Turner | Officer of Events

The Campus Sustainability Council is hosting an Earth Day celebration this Tuesday, April 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Fine Arts quad. There will be booths for invited Saddleback clubs and local organizations, a clothes and book exchange and food catered by Seabirds Kitchen, an all-vegan restaurant in Costa Mesa.

The event was organized by senator of sustainability Esmeralda Vasquez, financial officer Elise Ho, officer of events Jia Turner, administrative coordinator Maya Kalle and 2025-2026 sustainability senator-elect Veronica Becerra.

“I would like people to get in touch with the organizations because they’re all organizations that might be near them,” Kalle said. “They can go out and volunteer. A lot of the nonprofits that are going to come are flexible. I want people who go to this event to be motivated to go out, get their hands dirty.”

Get Inspired is one of the organizations that will be in attendance, a nonprofit dedicated to diverse restoration projects in Orange County.

“It was founded by Nancy Coruso,” Turner said. “She’s a very cool marine biologist and she’s been working in the field for 40 years. She wants to do an aquaponics project with the horticulture department.”

The aquaponics project would help maintain the health of local ecosystems and give horticulture students an opportunity to positively impact their community with discipline-specific hands-on work. 

Project Grow is another organization in attendance, and is also a nonprofit dedicated to ecological restoration in the area, specifically working in coastal environments.

“They work in the Newport back bay to revive habitats that are being affected by invasive species,” Kalle said. “It’s a great organization.”

There will also be Saddleback clubs in attendance, including the Creative Writing Club, Book Club, Rotary Club and Environmental Awareness Club. The Environmental Awareness Club is a particularly important collaborator.

“We’re the club who collaborates a lot with all the organizations that are going to be there,” Becerra said. “If you don’t want to fully commit to being a volunteer, the EAC is a great club to get your foot in the door and your hands dirty to see if you want to participate in things like that.”

Two of the main activities at the event will be the clothing and book exchanges.

“We’ll be having a clothing drive and a book exchange,” Vasquez said. “People should bring clothes that they really, really love but know that they are not going to use.”

“Give clothes that you would share with a friend,” Kalle said, “not ones that you would throw in the trash. Give clothes nice enough that you would give to someone you like.”

The event comes near the end of this academic year, leaving certain positions open for both the Campus Sustainability Committee and other Associated Student Government roles.

“We are looking for senators, directors and officers,” Ho said, who is also the 2025-2026 Vice President-elect.

There will be a variety of accessible eating options from Seabirds Kitchen.

“We will be having chips and salsa, purple taquitos, grilled cheese sandwiches, and mac  n’ cheese,” Vasquez said. “All vegan, they are also non-GMO, and they’re also a small business.”

Acknowledging the success of last year’s Earth Day event, Vasquez emphasized the importance of the responsibility in organizing an event dedicated to educating and putting Saddleback students to action.

“All the organizations are volunteering their time to come and see Saddleback College because they believe in the students at this college and their ability to succeed, care about their planet, and be a productive member of their community,” Vasquez said.

“We just want to educate people,” Turner said, “and to get people to celebrate the Earth, because that’s something people don’t think about that much, how grateful we should really be.”

“To be a productive member, you have to be able to go out there and see what your peers are passionate about and see what issues people want to target and be an active member of society,” Vasquez said. “Without activity, change is not possible.”

Comments

comments