With the last of the massive snow drifts finally disappearing from campus, numerous students will take advantage of the spring weather to get outdoors and participate in tomorrow's 10th annual Eco Service Day.
According to Coordinator for a Sustainable Bowdoin Keisha Payson, the event, which is sponsored by the environmental studies department, aims "to get students thinking about environmental issues in some way, shape or form by actually giving them the opportunity to get out and really contribute something."
Payson explained that Eco Service Day is a way for students to become involved in the greater Brunswick community.
"We spend so much time researching and reading books and listening to lectures [about sustainability issues]," she said. "It is really a unique opportunity for people to actually feel like they can go out and give back."
This year's Eco Service Day is focused on sustainability in agriculture, and is taking place in conjunction with the ongoing "Meet What You Eat" series, sponsored by various environmental groups and departments on campus. Past events such as the annual Locavore Dinner, a talk by environmentalist Wes Jackson and a visit from Stonyfield Organic C.E.O. Gary Hirshberg have all worked to give students a better sense of what they eat and where it comes from.
Eco Service Day participants will spend approximately 3 or 4 hours working at one of five local farms: Crystal Spring Farm, Milkweed Farm and the Bowdoin Organic Garden, which are all located in Brunswick, as well as Two Coves Farm in Harpswell and Morris Farm Trust in Wiscasset.
"The goal," Payson said, is to make students "aware of the fact that there are people in our community who are growing food that is being sold to and eaten by other people in our community. It is getting them thinking about the importance of a local food connection."
Andrew Cushing '12, who helped to organize the event, said he hopes that working on a farm will enable fellow students to "realize where their food is coming from and just how important that relationship is to their farmer."
"Not many students come from families who farm," said Cushing, "so I think it is just a good experience to go out their and push your boundaries."
Plus, "it's always fun digging in the dirt," he added.
Eco Service Day will take place tomorrow, April 16. Registered students should meet at the polar bear statue outside of Smith Union at 12:30 p.m.