Although Earth Day is celebrated on April 22, Pace is one of the many institutions that dedicates an entire month to appreciating and improving the planet.

Earth Month has been recognized on campus for 16 years, and each year students come out to meet the farm animals, plant trees, and walk the fit trail. Pace students found it difficult to attend a day of activities with their confining schedules, so a day was expanded to a week, which eventually expanded to a month. The month of activities allows students to not only work around their often hectic schedules, but also choose from the wide variety of events that are offered.

If one is on the artistic side, they can attend the photography events and enter the contest.

For those who enjoy hands-on work, there is a gardening workshop and a chance to volunteer in the campus clean up. For exercise enthusiasts, yoga at the farm or a bird walk are perfect options. The month allows all students to get involved in this immersive experience and learn ways in which the community can help protect the environment.

Many people find the task of protecting the environment to be daunting, and do not know where to start. Director of the Dyson College Nature Center Angelo Spillo said that the solution of this is to become educated on issues involving our planet.

“The most important thing for environmentalists to do is to educate people,” he said. 

Many environmentalists, according to Spillo, wrongfully assume that the benefits of recycling, eating certain foods and understanding the impact of a carbon footprint, are common knowledge, but many people do not know this.

“The thing students really should realize is the impact of climate change and all these other things happening are going to impact them far more than professors, which is why it is important to understand how to vote, change our daily habits, and make life better,” Spillo stated. 

There are steps that individuals can take to become more educated on the earth and apply that knowledge to make small—but meaningful—changes to people’s lives. Earth Month gives students the chance to become more educated through creative, academic, and hands-on activities that will make an impact.

Many student groups are participating in Earth Month such as NATURE club and a volunteer group going to Rockefeller State Park Preserve to participate in a clean up event. One of the most exciting aspects of this month is the sense of community that these activities also form between students, professors, and faculty. 

“I hope people come out to these events. There really is something for everybody,” said Spillo.