In honor of Earth Day, the student environmental planning group Ecological Decisions for a Global Environment (EDGE) hosted a day of events including a bake and plant sale, vendor fair, and showings of movies Wall-E, Disney’s Earth, and Avatar.
Representatives from area businesses and vendors included Greenlife Grocery, North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy, Chattanooga Electric Bikes, and the City of Chattanooga Water Quality Program.
According to Heath Luallen, student president of EDGE, the purpose of the events were to bring awareness to environmental issues. The group works closely with the campus Environmental Task Force. This task force is in charge of implementing policies and programs that impact the quality of the environment on the campus.
Using funds from the student green fee, UTC has implemented a campus-wide recycling program, installed motion sensors for lights in all the classrooms, and purchased solar panels have for the roof of the Challenger STEM Learning Center.
“As individuals, we can do all kinds of things to help the environment,” Luallen said. “If everyone does
EDGE recently allocated money from the student green fee for two special projects. In Grote Hall’s newly renovated science laboratories, EDGE funding made a difference, providing new hood vents that that shut off automatically when not in use. A parking lot planned near the new campus library will have an EDGE-funded system to help save rain water.
“EDGE is a very passionate, but relaxed organization,” Luallen said. “If you care about the environment for future generations, you should get involved.”
Melanie Harsha, UTC student and member of EDGE, said she joined the organization because “UTC is trying to be more environmentally conscious, and I wanted to be a part of that.”
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