Earth Day outdoor festival rained out, postponed

Erica Terrini

News Editor

Early morning April showers on Wednesday caused some outdoor Earth Day events to be postponed until Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Compass Point, Green Unity members said.

Co-hosts of the 2010 Earth Day events – Green Unity, VCU Recycling and Save the Trash! – rescheduled the outdoor festival and shortened the event from six to three hours, according to Green Unity co-founder Amanda Schutt.

According to James McCarthy, a Green Unity member, the student groups plan to feature local non-profit organizations and business, which promote greener initiatives, and other activities.

McCarthy said students who participate in a survey, which will examine student interaction with the environment, will be given a plant. Other activities will include games like a limbo competition.

The VCU fashion department will present a fashion show of eco-chic clothing, made entirely out of thrift store products and other recycled materials, McCarthy said. Guest speaker Joel Salatin, the owner of Polyface Farms, will be addressing the community at 3 p.m., in room 253 of the Trani Life Sciences Building after the outdoor festival.

Green Unity will also be hosting a gardening event at the Trani Life Sciences Building and on Cary and Harrison streets with the Boy Scout Troop 737 “BayScape,” Saturday, at 9 a.m. The two organizations will be planting 600 native shrubs, flowers and grasses to help manage storm-water runoff from campus as a part of a project to improve the water quality of the James River and protect the Chesapeake Bay.

For more information about these events, visit the Green Unity Facebook group: Green Unity 4 VCU.