The Associated Students of Madison Sustainability Committee is planning an Earth Day March to the Capitol on April 22. The march is the culmination of five other events occurring every Friday from 4-6 p.m. from March 24 to April 21.
The events are all part of a campaign called March 24th to Earth Day. The weekly events take place outside on East Campus Mall bringing together student and non-student organizations, along with the greater Madison community. The events also have free food, music, art and more, according to ASM Sustainability Committee Campaign Coordinator Winston Thompson.
Each week’s event has a theme. The events started with roots, food, water with this week’s theme being home. Next week’s theme is the future, according to Thompson. Two 7-foot wheels, known as “Wheels of Progress,” are present at every event which attendees can help decorate. These wheels will have an axle through them and will carry an inflatable Earth to the Capitol the day of the march. The wheels are provided by 350 Wisconsin, a group advocating for sustainability.
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Last week’s event combined both the themes food and water, as the food week had to be postponed from April 1 due to severe weather. At the event, members of Wunk Sheek and the United States Geological Survey spoke about the land and water the city of Madison and University of Wisconsin use. Wunk Sheek, one of the organizations at UW that serves students of Indigenous identity, spoke about the history of the land UW occupies. The USGS spoke about water usage and how important the native mussels in the lakes are for water filtration.
According to Thompson, the Earth Day March has three primary objectives — to increase outreach to the community, to lobby to local and state government for increased sustainability and to lobby UW to increase its sustainability. UW ranks last among Big Ten schools according to the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System. STARS reports measure how sustainable a university is, according to their website.
The ASM Sustainability Committee will meet with the Office of the Chancellor’s Interim Chief of Staff Jennifer Noyes, where the committee will provide a 33-page metrics document on the university’s sustainability and goals they can set to become more sustainable.
The march will start at Library Mall on Earth Day, April 22, at noon. Participants will march to the upper steps of the Capitol building where speakers will be present. The committee hopes to have a lot of student speakers, according to Thompson. Amanjot Kaur, an ASM Sustainability Committee member, will be speaking and reciting a poem she wrote at the event. Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway will also be in attendance, Thompson said.
