Media Welcome on April 22, 24; Bring water, wear sturdy shoes and clothes that you can get dirty!

For the ninth year, Earth Day will bring together volunteers from the Rutgers community in Newark for “green” service to their campus’s home city. First, on April 22, volunteers from the campus community will learn to plant basil so they can start their own home gardens, and the Rutgers Ecology and Evolution team will demonstrate how past Earth Day activities have made the campus more sustainable.  The Newark Conservancy will provide them with materials and hands-on instructions. Then on April 24 students will head to the Newark Conservancy to help prepare the gardens and plant flowers, on April 24.

WHAT/WHEN:

  • MONDAY, APRIL 22, 11:30 a.m. -1 p.m.: Members of the Rutgers Ecology and Evolution program will demonstrate how many years of past Earth Day activities has made the campus more sustainable. Be prepared to see things crawly, leafy and feathered!
  • Students and employees can learn how to grow herbs on their windowsills, with help from the Greater Newark Conservancy staff.  The Conservancy will provide seeds, soil, and pots, along with their know-how. This will be on the Norman Samuels Plaza (entrance from the Rutgers Arch on University Avenue between Bleeker Street and Warren Street.
  • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 (rain date: May 1), volunteers will pitch in to plant flowers, weed, rake, and prepare compost at the  gardens at the Greater Newark Conservancy’s Urban Environmental Center, Springfield Avenue and Prince Street, Newark. 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m. (Shuttles available from the Golden Dome Athletic Center.)

WHO:  Volunteer students, faculty, and staff

BACKGROUND: Earth Day allows the Rutgers family to give back to the community by making Newark more “green.”  On past Earth Days Rutgers volunteers have not only prepared the gardens at the Greater Newark Conservancy center but also “greened” the Rutgers campus, planting sustainable gardens, a native grasses garden and a bird pond, all to create bird- and butterfly-friendly habitats on campus and a green oasis in Newark’s concrete canyons.  Students also learn how to become environmental stewards.

Information: http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/earthday/

MEDIA CONTACT: Carla Capizzi, 973 353 5263