The Student Union Courtyard was filled with booths and games Wednesday to teach students about sustainability on campus. They could win tickets to trade in for prizes such as plants at the Sustainability Carnival.
Put on by campus organizations Students for Environmental Action, K-State Recycling Center, the Civil Engineering Department, Engineers without Borders and K-State Libraries, the carnival was part of Green Week celebrations.
After visiting each booth and winning enough tickets, students were able to trade them in for prizes such as stickers, posters, soap and plants,
Jess Jurczak, junior in biological systems engineering, is an unofficial member of Students for Environmental Action and sat at the prize table.
She became interested in helping with the event through her major and helped plan the event, giving most of the credit to Cheyenne Butler, Green Week chair and junior in biological systems.
Butler said she hopes that students were able to learn about what is happening on cause with sustainability and have a chance to celebrate the Earth.
“My whole purpose is to have sustainable prizes that people will appreciate and learn about the fun things that sustainability has to offer,” Butler said.
Funding for the event came through the Green Action Fund, which Butler said allowed them to expand events earlier in the week with a speaker as well as purchase prizes for the carnival.
“I want to promote sustainability, I don’t want people to feel they have to buy it, so my whole purpose is to give them the chance to be sustainable without having to buy things,” Butler said.
At the civil engineering booth, students found a basin of water full of rubber ducks, each trinket representing a water pollutant. Sam Brown, senior in civil engineering, and Matt Peterson, senior in civil engineering, stood by the booth telling students about current projects with water reuse on campus.
Brown said that by participating in the Sustainability Carnival, the department of civil engineering was hoping to increase awareness for projects that often go unnoticed on campus.
K-State Libraries was also present at the carnival, with a collection of sustainability-focused books and a green screen for photos.
“Libraries are inherently pro-sustainability,” Carol Sevin, academics services librarian, said. “You check [books] out and then bring them back and somebody else can use them.”
For more information on how to get involved in other Green Week activities on Campus, head to the Green Week website.
