Volunteers
from Rutgers University, Newark, will go beyond being good Newark neighbors to also
become “green neighbors” this month. For the eighth year, Earth Day will bring
together volunteers from the Rutgers community in Newark for two days of
“green” service to the campus

Earth Day 2010 volunteers gardening on Norman Samuels Plaza

and city.

 WHAT/WHEN:

     On MONDAY,
APRIL 16 (rain date: Monday, April 23), volunteers will prepare and plant a sustainable garden
on the campus, this time at the entrance to University Square residence
hall.  The garden will include
native plants and flowers that are wildlife-friendly. 11:30 a.m. -1 p.m. and 12:30
– 2 p.m. and 2:30 – 4 p.m.

      On WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18 (rain date:
April 25), volunteers will pitch in to weed, rake, plant and prepare
compost at the  gardens at the
Greater Newark Conservancy’s Urban Environmental Center, Springfield
Avenue and Prince Street, Newark. 10:30 a.m. – noon
and 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

 WHO:  Volunteer students, faculty, and staff

 WHERE:

• Monday, April 16:  University
  Square residence hall, 155 University Avenue (entrance to site near
  the Subway restaurant)
• Wednesday, April 18: Greater
  Newark Conservancy’s Urban Environmental Center, Springfield Avenue and Prince Street,
  Newark. 

 BACKGROUND:
Earth Day allows the Rutgers family to give back to the community by making Newark more “green.”  On past Earth Days Rutgers volunteers planted
two other sustainable gardens, a native grasses garden and a bird pond, all to
create bird- and butterfly-friendly habitats on campus and a green oasis in
Newark’s concrete canyons.  Students also
learn how to become environmental stewards.

 This year, the campus food
service provider, ARAMARK, is embracing Earth Day on several fronts.  ARAMARK is encouraging students to reduce
food waste, which is the least recycled material in the U.S., adding 96 billion
pounds to landfills annually.  Signs
posted near buffet lines advise diners to “take all you want, but please only
take what you can eat.” 

 ARAMARK also is inviting
students and staff to bring their own coffee mugs on April 23 and get free
coffee—and in the process, potentially keep hundreds of paper cups from
landfills that day. 

 ARAMARK posters on campus
also encourage everyone to take the stairs instead of the elevator to save
energy, noting that a 20-floor elevator ride uses enough electricity to power a
laptop for five hours.

 Information: http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/earthday/

MEDIA CONTACT: Carla Capizzi, 973 353 5263