In anticipation of International Earth Day, the Sustainable CORE Fellows, the Tufts University Social Collective and the Tufts Community Union held Earth Fest on Sunday in Eaton Hall. The event featured a farmer’s market, student vendors, a clothing swap and live music performances from Tufts a cappella group sQ! and a student-led band, Cutting Corners.
Earth Fest is an annual event with the goal of celebrating all the sustainability and environmental justice efforts that have happened at Tufts throughout the year. The occasion is also an opportunity to create a space where everything is accessible.
Another key part of the Sustainability CORE Fellows’ mission is to collaborate with as many organizations on campus as possible in order to expand the idea of sustainability and environmental justice.
“TUSC and the [Sustainability] CORE Fellows have done this event together in the past, so they reached out to a bunch of people that they knew would be interested in selling their art here, and they helped make it happen,” Austin Schiffer, a first-year TUSC coordinator, said.
Earth Fest saw more than 30 vendors and local businesses. One of the present student organizations was the Tufts Pollinator Initiative. This student group focuses on creating pollinator habitats with the goal of increasing urban biodiversity. As a result of the efforts of the initiative, there are pollinator gardens by the Tisch Library and at 574 Boston Ave.
“You get your clay, and you think about ways that your pollinator could possibly collect pollen from flowers,” Elsa Yelk, a senior representing the club at Earth Fest, explained the concept behind their table’s activity.
Tufts Climate Action’s table featured letter-writing to get in contact with government representatives and petition-signing to advocate for climate justice and better climate policies.
A student vendor, sophomore Brianna Hernandez, set up a table where she was selling hand-made jewelry and cards she made in a print-making class. All the profits after selling her art went to her, as students could make purchases through Venmo.
“I’m a part of Eco Art Club, so [Sustainability CORE Fellows] reach out to the club, and because of my affiliation with that, I'm able to table at a lot of these events,” Hernandez said.
Another student vendor, first-year Greta Magary, was selling prints of her larger painting that she had made at SMFA. She found out about Earth Fest through the Sustainability CORE Fellows Instagram page, as they were looking for student vendors. The prices for her prints varied from $5 to $7.
A clothing swap was another major part of the event. It is one of the biggest events organized by the Sustainability CORE Fellows, and it is held every semester. Donation bins are set up weeks prior to the event; however, anyone can bring their clothes on the day of.
Many of the clothes are also left over from previous clothing swaps, creating an archive. A lot of clothes are also donated afterward to thrift and secondhand stores or charities.
The farmer’s market, another collaboration between TCU and Sustainability CORE Fellows, also was at Earth Fest. In comparison to its appearance last semester, where students had to pay $5 to get any produce, this semester’s market was completely free.
Tufts a cappella group sQ! and student-led band Cutting Corners brought music to the event. Due to weather conditions on the day, Earth Fest was moved to Eaton Hall.
TUSC partnered with local businesses to cater the event. Students were presented with empanadas from La Posada and ice cream from a local business named Honeycomb Creamery.
“We have a lot of free things going on so that students can get some free joy,” said Camille Smokelin, a senior member of Sustainable CORE Fellows.
