Earth Day at the 'Ville

This Earth Day, the Millersville University Center for Environmental Sciences will be starting a new chapter with the inauguration of the new Watershed Education Training Institute (WETI). MU President John Anderson will cut the ribbon on this new outdoor laboratory facility at 11 a.m. this Friday, April 22, near the Creek Lodge property behind the MU soccer fields. In addition, there will be activities all day long in the Student Memorial Center.

Drs. John Wallace, professor of biology, and Nanette Marcum-Dietrich, associate professor of educational foundations, are co-coordinators of the new WETI, a new campus resource dedicated to educating students about watershed science research, advocacy and conservation. The ceremony will include brief speeches from President Anderson, Dean Michael Jackson, Steve Kerlin from the Stroud Water Research Center, MU sustainability manager Chris Steuer and Dr. John Wallace.

Immediately following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, guests are invited to tour the new facility and attend a tree planting adjacent to Roddy Hall and Pucillo parking lot, which is part of an ongoing WETI/ Stroud Water Research Center reforestation project that has reforested nearly four acres of MU property with more than 200 native trees.

The events in the SMC Atrium will run  from 10-3.  A ribbon cutting ceremony at Wheatland Middle School has been postponed because of the rainy forecast. The Atrium events will feature interesting exhibits from a variety of sustainable initiatives on campus, including the Center for Sustainability, Finance and Administration, Geography, Dining, Facilities, Art, Education, Environmental Health and Safety, and student clubs. Visitors will learn how they can get involved in sustainability at MU. There will be free samples of organic fair trade chocolate and chances to win a bike, handmade Peruvian shoes by Inkkas, and an ultra-lightweight solar charger by Solar Paper.

The Center for Sustainability will be showcasing new initiatives: The Millersville University/Wheatland MS Partnership Garden, new interpretive signs in the green space by the ‘Ville-age Garden, the partnership with ecoAmerica, and the Toss the Gloss glossy paper recycling program that benefits the Ronald McDonald House.

Four new interpretive signs describing the Center’s projects in the green space behind Huntingdon House (across from the bookstore) will be installed in time for Earth Day. The signs were funded by ecoAmerica and will describe the ‘Ville-age Garden, the TerraCycle/SmileTrain program, the Rain garden, and the Composting area.