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BY EVELYN LAI

In print | Published April 27, 2006

The paper pinwheels on Parrish Beach and rainbow-colored propeller hats that have been floating around campus served as visual markers of Earth Week, which Swarthmore celebrated over the course of last week. The Earthlust club sponsored three events for Earth Week, including a faculty panel, “Pinwheels on Parrish” and “Lust on the Beach”.

Earthlust co-president Kavita Hardy ’08 said that the main intention of Earth Week was to celebrate the outdoors and examine our relationship with the environment. “It is easy for students to fall into the pattern of daily activities here,” Hardy said. “Whether it is the third floor of McCabe, Cornell basement or Hicks lounge, we spend an awful lot of time indoors, despite our beautiful campus.”

Professors Mark Wallace, Larry Westphal, Carr Everbach and Peter Collings participated in the Thursday evening faculty panel. According to Hardy, many prospective students attended the panel.

“The faculty panel was excellent,” Ashley Werner ’08 said. “Between specs, Earthlust members and other Swatties, the room was full.”

Elizabeth Crampton ’09 was one of the many students attending this event. “[They] all brought their own unique take on the global environmental crisis and what we can do to prevent it from becoming worse,” Crampton said.

The four panelists were drawn from different departments, which presented a variety of perspectives for the talk. “I think we all really enjoyed both the dynamic personalities and active debate during the panel,” Hardy said.

“Many of the professor’s questions about wind power at Swarthmore were answered, and they presented the audience with very scientifically, economically and ethically powerful arguments for wind power,” Hardy said.

Wind power is Earthlust’s current environmental campaign. Because of this, the group attempted to organize their Earth Week and Ride the Tide events around this theme.

The group also sold hats in Parrish lounge to raise awareness about wind power. “We had been selling propeller hats as a way for students to show their support for wind power,” Hardy said. “Many of the school’s administrators even bought hats for friends and family, giving us a chance to talk to them about our efforts.”

The group says that the goal behind selling the hats was less about profit and more about awareness.

“We didn’t want to make a profit, we just wanted to give people a way to show their support for wind power in a highly fun and visible way,” Crampton said. “Plus, they’re really cool hats.”

The group also hosted an event at the Prospective Students’ Activity Fair.

“We organized an event for students to make a small pinwheel to put on Parrish Beach if they supported wind power,” Hardy said. “Both specs and students together made over 60 pinwheels. We felt like the event was a success, as we had a small wind farm to show afterwards.”

In addition to making paper pinwheels, Earthlust also held their annual event, Lust on the Beach, which was just as successful.

According to Crampton, around 30 students showed up to camp on Parrish Beach for the night. Earthlust provided hot cocoa and s’mores.

“It was a great night and all of the specs seemed really happy to be there and excited about next year,” Crampton said.

Rohan Parikh ’09 said that Swarthmore students could be more aware of environmental issues. “We will definitely be campaigning more next year, trying to get more students to recycle and save water,” Parikh said.

Werner agreed. “One thing I would like to see is a greater awareness as to how each of our actions, and our lifestyle in general, may contribute to the degradation of the environment, and how we have a responsibility to speak out against the systems we live in which perpetuate this destruction,” she said.

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