Annual Green Apple Day Activies Expand

The Exeter sustainability community is throwing itself wholeheartedly into Friday’s Green Apple Day of Service. Expanding from a poster contest last year to a full day of volunteer opportunities this year, the Academy’s environmental leaders are hoping for enthusiastic participation from students and faculty alike. A variety of hands-on projects are open for sign-ups on Friday, ranging from planting fall bulbs to spreading mulch on the Academy woods cross-country trail as well as helping to build trail bridges and bird houses. Students may also help with invasive species removal on Saturday or attend a showing of a sustainability film on Friday night. Faculty are encouraged to integrate an environmental theme into their Friday lessons, and everyone is urged to bike or walk to school if they live off campus. The environmental art project, a competition that rewards relevance, inventiveness and means of expression with up to 25 Grill Bucks, will be continued from last year. Senior Manager for Sustainability and Natural Resources Jill Robinson is spearheading the event along with Sustainbilty Education Coordinator Betsy Stevens and Director of Human Resources Kate Anatone. “We wanted to include faculty and staff and give everyone a chance to work together,” Robinson said. “We wanted to do more projects and a diversity of types of projects, with some hands-on and others of a more awareness or educational nature.” After a day of faculty and staff volunteering at the end of August, Robinson also wrote in an email to the community that she was “so inspired by participating in Community Connection Day...and amazed at what we were able to accomplish working together.” The projects that Robinson helped to plan focus on directly impacting the Exeter campus. By improving grounds, trails, and gardens, the students and faculty who volunteer on Green Apple Day will see tangible results from their actions. There are also projects with a short time frame, since it is a day with classes. Robinson is hoping for 100 volunteers. The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council is the nonprofit organization behind Green Apple Day. According to its website, Green Apple aims to “put all children in schools where they have clean and healthy air to breathe, where energy and resources are conserved, and where they can be inspired to dream of a brighter future.” Robinson thinks that this day will give Exonians a chance to combine the school’s values with greater issues outside of the Exeter bubble. “Green Apple Day is a chance for us to put non sibi into practice by doing work that benefits the environment, wildlife, and our campus community; each of these is larger than and beyond our personal self interest,” Robinson said. “It is a way for us to bring together students, staff and faculty; this helps each of these groups to get to know the others and begin to develop relationships based on trust and mutual respect.” Justin Landowne, senior and co-head of the Environmental Action Committee, believes that this is an important day to remind people about environmental issues on and off campus. “The day keeps people informed about what’s going on, for example, removing invasive species,” Landowne said. “If people can’t understand that [invasive species] are a problem here, then they won’t remove them from other places.” Environmental Proctors are also excited about the opportunities presented for them and for their peers. “As an e-Proctor, I think that it is a good way to get involved throughout campus,” senior Alyssa Heinze said. “I think it’s easy to get caught up here in our own routines. The day makes us stop and think about the environment.” Some think that there will be a lack of volunteers, due to scheduling conflicts and a lack of incentive. “I think that it’s a good way for people to be active in the environmental community, but because it’s optional, not many people are going to sign up,” upper and e-Proctor Erick Friis said. “We don’t have that much free time to start, so we savor it when we have it. Also, it’s on a school day, so that’s also kind of an event killer.”