Craven Community College (CCC) will be hosting events in recognition of Earth Day. On Wednesday, April 23rd, the public is invited to two free educational events: the 5th Annual Green Fair and sustainability lecture by Andy Wood, award-winning conservation educator.
The 5th Annual CCC Green Fair will showcase “green” products, services and organizations. Some of the organizations participating in this year’s fair include Coastal Environmental Partnerships, Cool Springs Environmental Education Center, Craven County Clean Sweep, Craven County Cooperative Extension, Healthy Respect Unlimited, Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation, North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and Trent Cadillac Buick GMC.
Andy Wood, director of the Coastal Plain Conservation Group (www.coastalplaincg.org), will be presenting a lecture that explores the modern environmental movement’s impact since Earth Day started in 1970. Woods life-long career as a coastal ecologist, author and educator began at the dawn of Earth Day. Wood was the curator of education for the North Carolina Aquariums, was a state education director for the National Audubon Society, and spent 25 years as a nature commentator for public radio station WHQR. In 1987, Andy co-founded Beach Sweep, North Carolina’s first coast-wide marine debris cleanup campaign, which is now statewide and called Big Sweep. In 1990, he founded the Earth Day Alliance of the Lower Cape Fear. Wood is the director of Coastal Plain Conservation Group, a North Carolina non-profit organization established to provide ecosystem research and habitat management, with special attention to protecting threatened and endangered species in southeastern North Carolina’s longleaf pine, pocosin, and bottomland swamp forests.
Both events will be held on the New Bern campus at 800 College Court. The Green Fair runs from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Student Center/Quad. Andy Wood’s lecture, presented by CCC’s Liberal Arts and University Transfer program, begins at 3:30 p.m. in the Orringer Auditorium.
Every year around Earth Day, the CCC Sustainability and Facilities Committee holds “green” events to promote awareness of sustainability and green-focused practices. CCC established its formal sustainability committee in 2012 to reduce the college’s ecological footprint. The committee’s plan includes projects that reduce energy and resource consumption, incorporate sustainability in facilities improvements, include sustainability education in course curriculum, and increase awareness of green practices among students, faculty, staff and the community at large.
Submitted by: Deborah Kania, Director of Marketing, Communications & Development Liaison, Craven Community College