Today, April 17, the University of Connecticut Office of Sustainability and Dining Services are collaborating to hold their annual Earth Day Spring Fling. The event has been held annually since 2008 and has grown this year to feature a sustainable BBQ, party bikes, goat yoga, the class of 2027 tree planting and over 30 vendors of sustainable goods and produce.
Between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. at the Founders Green, students can engage in goat yoga, combining meditation, stretching and nature immersion with goats. Elm City Park Bikes will provide a party bike riding experience from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering students an opportunity to learn about the eco-friendly aspects of the Storrs campus. Finally, the annual class tree planting ceremony, this year honoring the class of 2027, is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on the Student Union lawn. This continues a tradition dating back a century, with over 20 class trees still in existence since the tradition’s inception. The class of 2027’s tree will be a sugar maple to be planted as part of the event’s festivities.
Patrick McKee is the interim director of the Office of Sustainability and one of the main leaders in organizing the event. He spoke on planning the event and balancing both fun and education in shaping the event’s atmosphere.
“It requires a lot of collaboration and coordination. Our intern team deserves a lot of credit for coordinating the event logistics. Our interns Lilly Adamo and Jackie Flaherty provided much of the leadership needed from the OS to secure the space and resources needed with support from the Student Union, work with Dining Services on providing a menu for the zero waste BBQ, coordinate vendor and organization recruitment efforts, and secure programmatic activities. Our entire intern team and EcoCaptains play a hand in promoting and executing the event. It truly is an event for students, by students in many ways,” McKee said. “We host a number of educational engagement events and experiential learning programs throughout the year—many of these focus on heavy topics, like climate change, and we feel that it is important to provide a forum once a semester for students to just have fun in nature and celebrate the efforts of the environmental community.”
Additionally, McKee spoke to the event’s unlikely collaboration with Dining Services, and how the event has changed throughout the years.
“Dining Services is an incredible partner! They have been working with the Office of Sustainability on Earth Day Spring Fling since its creation. Unfortunately, I don’t know the origin story, but I believe it was a merger of two separate events. Since I joined UConn in 2018, we have expanded the number of side events and have worked hard to highlight the event for students. The biggest variable each year obviously remains the weather, but we continue to work to reach new organizations and small businesses focused on sustainable goods to highlight even more opportunities for students to get involved on campus and locally,” Mckee said.
The annual class tree planting is a special element of the Earth Day Spring Fling, acting as a living monument for thousands of students. McKee described the process of picking the class tree, balancing both the health of UConn’s ecosystem and the wants for students being represented by the tree.
“UConn’s tree succession plan helps to keep track of trees which have died or have been removed and options for the class tree are recommended by the university’s tree warden every year to ensure the long-term health and biodiversity of the arboretum. The Office of Sustainability then shares this short list with the commemorated class who coordinates a voting process to select the class tree species to be planted. In coordination with Facilities Operations and University Planning Design and Construction, the tree is purchased and placed for the ceremony at Earth Day Spring Fling. Students then have the opportunity to bury intensions alongside the roots of the tree and spread mulch to ensure the tree stays hydrated over the summer months,” McKee said. “Remarks are shared by representatives of the Arboretum Committee and a representative from the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).”
McKee finally reflected on his own thoughts regarding Earth Day and how to celebrate the planet. He emphasized celebrating both the planet’s natural beauty and those that are working to responsibly steward the environment for future generations.
“Earth Day is a day for reflection in my opinion, not only of the natural beauty and services provided by Mother Earth, but of the individuals and communities who provide examples and leadership toward stewarding the planet for our future generations. Environmental leadership is emotional work, and too often the well-being of those leaders is compromised by the seemingly insurmountable challenges of things like mitigating climate change, preventing biodiversity loss, and repairing historical environmental injustices while preventing future societal inequities. We have so many amazing environmental leaders at UConn spanning faculty and staff members and students. Earth Day is also a day to uplift and support those individuals and to recommit to the hard work ahead,” McKee said.