CMU Earth Week 2016

Expand Your Horizons, and Open the Mind to Something New

This year, we will celebrate and help foster an appreciation for our shared home, the Earth, through education, community, leadership, and fun.

We have a wide array of events planned throughout the week. From documentary screenings, and volunteer opportunities, to in depth panel discussions, and community collaboration. All of this comes together at the end of the week for an Earth Day Celebration, with craft beer, trivia, live music, and art.

This Earth Week is a very important one. We are living during an extremely unique time on this planet. The human species is at a cross roads. Currently, corporations have corrupted our democracy by funneling money to politicians, our economy and energy systems are unsustainable, sea levels are rising and becoming more acidic, and the clean air, water, and land which we need to live are being destroyed by careless industry. It is not too abstract to say that we are on the brink of a mass extinction. This sounds very grim, but we have a choice to make. We can decide to either stay on this decaying and unjust path which we are on, essentially sealing this fate, or we can choose to deviate from that path, and start on a bold new journey to build a world that is fulfilling, sustainable, and works for everyone in it.

Often, environmental issues are not seen as being connected to human rights or other social justice issues, but any problem with the delicate ecosystem in which we all depend on for life, is a problem for everyone on the planet, not just those closest to the problem. Environmental issues are inherently interconnected social justice issues. Often times the poor and disadvantaged are the people who are faced with the brunt of things like pollution, environmental degradation, and resource contamination. This must no longer be ignored by those in power and hidden from the public, it must be exposed and those responsible held accountable. 

Technological and scientific advances like renewable energy, and the ability to connect and share ideas virtually with anyone in the world, make so many things possible that weren't before. We as humans have a chance right NOW, to make our world better than it has ever been, and that is immensely exciting. In that spirit, Earth Week's events are going to match the intensity of the current world issues we face, with equal parts happiness and celebration, because a better world is possible right now on our planet, Earth.