Earth Day Action on Northwestern’s Campus

Sign in an ice cream shop in Indiana. (Ruby Grisin/ION)

EVANSTON, Ill. — Earth Day sparked conversation and consideration across campus today as climate conscious students practiced conservation and held events to spread awareness about sustainability. But with greenwashing and other subtle consumerist narratives influencing students, unified action could prove more difficult than anticipated.

Green student organizations, such as Fossil Free Northwestern and Cats Who Compost, were particularly visible today. Cats Who Compost hosted a celebratory tea and kombucha bar outside Deering Library and Fossil Free Northwestern hung a sign near the arch that read: “Fund climate action, not genocide #ReclaimEarthDay.” This initiative linked the climate crisis to Palestinians' cries for environmental justice, the “Stop Cop City” movement and the environmental impacts of militarism, according to their flyer. 

This past Saturday, other student organizations were present at Greenout, an event held by Associated Student Government’s Sustainability Committee in Deering Meadow. Students who attended could listen to student bands, engage in crafts and learn more about environmentally focused clubs on campus.

This month, SustainNU is also hosting a handful of events to educate students and initiate conversation about climate protection. 

But Earth Day is not just about Northwestern’s organizations. For second-year undergraduate Max Outcalt, every day is Earth Day. He consumes little meat, air dries his laundry, and takes public transportation whenever possible. 

“I don’t do anything super specific for Earth Week; I just try to be as conscientious as I am regularly,” he said. 

Vice President of Wild Roots, a campus gardening organization, Orly Lindner, said one of the best things people can do for the environment is to limit meat consumption. She also suggested composting in Norris. When it is necessary to make purchases, Lindner explained it is best to carefully consider which choice is best for the planet. 

Lindner still aims to hold larger companies and systems accountable for environmental degradation, though.

“There’s all these things that we can do, like recycling and composting and buying secondhand and that kind of thing, but it’s all focused on an individual and there’s only so much of an impact that the individual can make,” Lindner said.

Author Michael Maniates calls this the “individualization of responsibility.” Maniates, who is also an environmental science professor at Allegheny College, wrote his thesis on the topic. In the paper, he said that larger institutions use this strategy to transfer the responsibility of climate action to individual consumers, rather than addressing the inherent issues of a consumerist culture.

“When responsibility for environmental problems is individualized, there is little room to ponder institutions, the nature and exercise of political power, or ways of collectively changing the distribution of power and influence in society—to, in other words, ‘think institutionally,’” Maniates wrote. 

Engaging in group initiatives to fight the climate crisis could both help confront larger institutions and improve mental health and energy around the climate movement. A 2022 study by the Yale School of Public Health determined that collective action helps young adults grapple with climate anxiety. 

Even though Northwestern’s environmental organizations are small in scale and reach, they are steps toward a more sustainable future. After all, the first Earth Day in 1970 took place after an oil spill sparked collective action, bringing 22 million people across the country together in support of environmental reform.