Student environmental organizations and various faculty and staff at Iowa State are here to remind students that it’s Earth Day.

“It’s an all-day event,” said Graham Jordison, senior in political science, who helped organize the Earth Day events on campus.

A variety of activities that recognize the importance of the environment will be held on Central Campus all day Wednesday.

The event, called “Green is Us,” will kick off at 11 a.m. near the Campanile with an education fair where different student groups on campus can share their concerns and passions regarding environmental and sustainability issues.

Jason Grimm, senior in landscape architecture, will be handing out free compact fluorescent light bulbs during the education fair.

The student organizations participating in the fair include ISU Environmental Watchdogs, ISU Soil and Water Conservation Club, ActivUs, Real Food — a student organic farm — the ONE campaign, ISU BioBus and the graduate program in sustainable agriculture.

In addition, different faculty will speak throughout the day. Speakers include Bill Gutowski, professor in geological and atmospheric sciences, and Gene Takle, professor in agronomy and geological and atmospheric sciences. The pair, in a team with Al Gore, are recipients of a Nobel Peace Prize.

Bill Simpkins, professor of geological and atmospheric sciences, will also speak about water conservation and, specifically, water bottles, which Jordison said is a big issue right now.

Local musicians will also perform throughout Earth Day on Central Campus. The event will culminate with a march to the ISU Power Plant, which uses coal as a source of energy.

Jordison described the march as a peaceful march, and said anyone is welcome to join.

“We’re getting members of the community together to raise awareness of the coal plant,” Jordison said.

He said Iowa “has the ability to transform the energy sector,” and should more actively pursue alternatives to coal.

Ellen Walsh, senior in public service and administration in agriculture, is another student active in setting up Earth Day activities.

“What we did was look at all the different environmental groups through the student organizations Web site and ask them to set up a meeting,” Walsh said.

Walsh said the meeting went well and all the different groups contributed ideas of what should be done to celebrate Earth Day.

She said Jeff Witt, assistant director of utilities, will speak to the group assembled at the power plant once they get there. Walsh said a discussion will follow.

“It is an important issue because coal is obviously a big component of our Ozone depletion and we also want to address how people are extracting coal,” Walsh said. “There’s been a lot of talk about the difference between clean coal and dirty coal, and the consensus is that there is no such thing as clean coal.”

Walsh said she hopes to foster a discussion about alternatives to coal power in honor of Earth Day.

Events on Central Campus

11 a.m. — Welcome and Education Fair Begins

11:30 a.m. — Gene Takle – Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Noon — Mary Tiedmann — Musician

12:30 p.m. — Bill Gutowski — Nobel Peace Prize Winner

1 p.m. — Kate Kennedy — Musician

1:30 p.m. — Free Speech hour/soap box — You speak!

3 p.m. — Bill Simpkins — Hydrology Professor

3:30 p.m. — Julie Hallman — Musician

4 p.m. — Let’s talk about coal

5:30 p.m. — Coal March —  Meet at Central Campus and end at ISU Power Plant