Earth Day inspires action, education, and community

BLOOMSBURG — This year’s Earth Day celebration at Commonwealth University–Bloomsburg brought students, organizations, and community members together for a day filled with eco-conscious activities, hands-on learning, and campus engagement. 

Planned by students in the communication studies’ event planning course, the annual event transformed the Academic Quad into an interactive space focused on sustainability, education, and community connection.

Centered around the theme “Our Planet, Our Future: Let’s Take Action!” Earth Day 2026 encouraged attendees to reflect on their role in protecting the environment while participating in engaging, educational activities throughout the day.

The event featured a wide variety of hands-on experiences led by student organizations and community partners, including bird house painting with Best Buddies, eco-friendly tie-dying with EPCAMR, a succulent sale hosted by NCASC, environmental trivia games, tote bag painting, therapy dogs, a food drive, and a vintage clothing sale. Attendees could also stop by the food tent for fruit kebabs, popcorn, soft pretzels, organic fruit, and a s’mores station.

For communication studies majors Erin Hartopp and Jess Allen, along with medical imaging major and communication studies minor Finley Bragalone, helping organize the event gave them the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge in a real-world setting while creating an event that brought the campus community together.

Hartopp, who served as head of the Promotions Team, said the event was designed to make a sustainability approachable and engaging for students.

“This year’s Earth Day featured exciting, educational, and eco-conscious activities for attendees to interact with,” Hartopp said. “Overall, the event was an opportunity for everyone to learn how to become more eco-friendly while participating in fun activities.”

Allen, a senior communication studies major who worked on the BU Alliances Team, helped coordinate with student organizations and campus groups participating in the event.

“We had a wide range of engaging activities from clubs and organizations across campus,” Allen said. “It was really exciting to see how many people wanted to be involved and support the message we were sharing.”

Bragalone, a member of the Sponsors Team, helped secure donations and raffle baskets for the event and assisted with day-of operations.

“I was part of the sponsors' team, so our role was to get companies and brands to send money donations, baskets, or items for the raffle baskets,” Bragalone explained. “We also put together the baskets for the event and made sure that the whole part of Earth Day was running smoothly.”

All three students said the event focused on educating attendees about sustainability while also creating a fun and welcoming campus experience.

“Our overall goal for Earth Day was to spread awareness about how important it is to take care of our planet,” Bragalone said. “A lot of the tables shared facts about the earth to educate students, but another goal was simply to allow students and staff to come together and have a good time.”

Allen said the event tackled environmental topics that students can actively address in their daily lives.

“We focused on environmental topics such as sustainability, composting, the effects of AI on the environment, food waste, and fast fashion,” she said. “We hoped attendees would walk away with a better understanding of zero waste and become more conscious of their own actions moving forward.”

Hartopp added that the event’s theme helped shape the planning process and the overall message behind the celebration.

“Through event activities, partnerships, and promotional strategies, we wanted to emphasize the importance of what attendees can do to make the world a better place for ourselves and future generations,” she said.

Planning an event of this size required months of communication, organization, and teamwork among the Event Planning class and participating organizations.

“As the head of Promotions, I helped organize social media content, promotional materials, and reminders leading up to the event,” Hartopp said. “During the event itself, I was helping with activities, passing out sunflower seeds to attendees, managing the Rita’s cart, and reposting students’ stories on the Earth Day Instagram account.”

Allen noted that coordinating with campus organizations was one of the biggest responsibilities of the BU Alliances Team.

“I really enjoyed being able to learn more about the clubs and organizations on campus,” she said. “It was great seeing how many groups cared about Earth Day and the messages we were sharing.”

Like any large-scale campus event, the planning process came with challenges. For Hartopp, timing and coordination between teams proved to be one of the biggest obstacles.

“The Promotions Team often had to begin tasks later because promoting the event relied on other teams securing partnerships and collaborations first,” she explained. “I had to stay flexible, which definitely eased the stress of the time crunch.”

Allen faced similar challenges while trying to communicate with organizations across campus. “One of the biggest challenges was getting in contact with clubs because Husky Sync was not always updated,” Allen said. “We had to communicate through social media, professors, and word of mouth to make everything work.”

Bragalone said the fast-paced nature of the planning process helped her develop valuable communication and multitasking skills.

“One skill I learned while planning this event was communication,” she said. “I was able to communicate with companies more efficiently because of what I learned from event planning. Another skill was multitasking because Earth Day consisted of doing a lot of different things all at once.”

Despite the challenges, all three students said the experience helped them strengthen leadership and professional development skills while applying what they’ve learned through the Communication Studies program.

“Through this experience, I strengthened my leadership skills and learned how to take initiative on difficult tasks,” Hartopp said. “I really appreciated having the opportunity to do that.”

Allen added that the event taught her confidence, adaptability, and organization. “With a team of over eighteen event planners, it was important to stay organized and make sure everyone was on the same page,” she said. “I also learned to take a breath and trust the process. Being part of such a successful campus event made me really proud of our entire team.”

Beyond promoting sustainability, Earth Day also created a strong sense of community across campus.

Earth Day '26