Event to educate students about earth-friendly activities

Members of a new campus group at Southeast Missouri State University called the Environmental Leadership Association will be rolling up their sleeves to plant a variety of flowers to celebrate Earth Day in the terrace field to help educate students about the importance of helping the environment as well as other earth-friendly activities such as recycling, including how to turn a water bottle into a pot for plants.

The Earth Day event will be called 'April Showers Bring May Flowers.'

The Environmental Leadership Association started when president Tegan Mazurek transferred to Southeast in the summer of 2012. Mazurek, who is majoring in environmental science with an emphasis in biology, said she has a passion for the environment. She learned that there wasn't an environmentally-related group on campus after talking with the director of environmental science, Dr. Steve Overmann, but that there had been two that fizzled out. That was when she decided to create her own.

"I was like, 'All right, I'll just start another one,'" Mazurek said. "I pretty much took that as challenge accepted."

During the fall 2012 semester, Mazurek said that she focused on making the group a university-recognized club. Mazurek said that she learned in early March that the Environmental Leadership Association became official.

The group has five active members: Robert Hiller, Aly Gatwood, Damien Reo, John Noatch and Mazurek.

Hiller said that he became interested after learning that his friend Noatch was going to be joining a group that his friend, Mazurek, was starting that dealt with the environment.

"After taking environmental biology with Dr. Overmann, it kind of opened my eyes a bit and kind of inspired me to become a good activist with this stuff," Hiller said.

Gatwood said that she and Mazurek went to high school together and were both in an environmental group where Mazurek was the president and Gatwood was the vice president.

"When we found out that we were going to the same college and that Southeast didn't have an environmental club, we had the idea to start one," Gatwood said.

Students and faculty members are welcome to attend the event. Mazurek said that students should bring empty water bottles to the terraces field, where the group will demonstrate on how to cut them so that they can be used as a plant potter.

The guests will be able to plant whatever kind of plant they desire. The Environmental Leadership Association will have multiple varieties of small health plants available.

"The idea behind the water bottles is being able to reuse your waste and not be so keen to throw away the things we use because I think things deserve a second life," Mazurek said. "I think Earth Day is really important because it's the one day people recognize dedication to the environment."

Mazurek said that she would like to try to form a partnership with the Residence Hall Association in the future because they are planning to host similar earth-friendly events such as planting trees in the coming weeks.

"It's all about finding people who are committed and are willing to put time and passion towards it," Mazurek said.

The 'April Showers Bring May Flowers' event will run from 3-5 p.m. on April 21, the day before the nationally-known Earth Day, at the terraces field located by Academic Hall.