Humanity has a chance  to show apprecition for the Earth.

The University of Northern Iowa is celebrating Earth Week, in cahoots with the Recycling & Reuse Technology Transfer Center and Green Iowan AmeriCorps.

On Tuesday, participants came together to clean up Dry Run Creek.

Jenny Bruss, the program and community outreach coordinator for the RRTC, described Earth Week. 

“Earth Week on the UNI campus is a great time to get out and learn what people are doing on and off campus throughout the year to provide and support a healthy, environmentally friendly community,” Bruss said. 

She said the week includes a number of educational events and activities to help students look at the bigger picture with Earth Week. These events are also held throughout the year. 

“Earth Week is fantastic. We, as a humanity, need to take care of the environment . . .  I want to be a part of the solution. ‘Somebody, somebody has to, you see’, Dr. Seuss says, and I like to finish with, ‘that somebody will start with me,’“ said Julie Grunklee, graduate community health education and promotion and health and fitness promotion major.

Maddie Sondag, senior early childhood and elementary education major and student employee at RRTTC, heard about getting involved with Earth Week from her boss. 

“I came to participate this year because last year I only got to help set up, and I wasn’t able to participate until now,” Sondag said. 

There are a few other events to participate in this week, like Thursday’s 5k starting at UNI’s Prairie Preserve on the corner of 29th and Walnut streets at 6 p.m. 

Earth Week will conclude on Friday by cleaning up parts of Highway 20 at 10 a.m. Transportation wil be provided at the Center for Energy and Environmental Education

Finally, on Friday, they will end the Earth Week celebration by cleaning up Highway 20 in Cedar Falls with Green Iowa AmeriCorps. Transportation will be provided at 10 a.m. at the Center for Energy and Environmental Education.

Rosie Manzo, Green Iowa AmeriCorps employee based out of the Center for Energy and Environmental Education, stressed community work to help clean up surrounding areas. 

“It’s super important to pick it [litter] up, and it’s sad that it happens at all,” Manzo said. “It’s everyone’s job, not just the person dropping the trash.”