Earth Week was a little cold and rainy this year, but that didn’t stop us from having fun. We celebrated our new 2030 goals, had our first booth at Earth Day Omaha, saw how creative, resourceful, and talented our fellow colleagues are in the Re-Purpose It contest, collected items from your home for appropriate recycling, brought in lots of subject matter experts to answer your questions and provide you with information (and free stuff), taste-tested vegan chocolate chip cookies, planted a tree, gave away free trees and seeds, and last but not least, got expert advice from master gardeners.
We want to know what you thought. Please click on the link below to take our less than two-minute survey. Your feedback will help us to know what to do, or not do, next Earth Week and what changes we can make so it’s even better.
Click here for Earth Week Survey.
Re-Purpose It Contest Winners:
Grand Prize, winner of popular vote:
No.1, Bret Gardner, M.D./Ph.D. student; Cedar fence pieces into dining benches.
Receives a 20-minute chair massage from the Wellness Center ($20 value) and $25 gift card to Union Junktion Store.
Second in popular vote:
No. 31, Cynthia Pickinpaugh, patient financial counselor, UNL Health Center; toddler bed into garden bench.
Receives a $20 Hy-Vee gift card courtesy of Sodexo.
Third in popular vote:
No. 19, Deana Sorgenfrei, prof coding senior associate, orthopaedic revenue cycle; fire pit lid to solar gazebo chandelier.
Receives a hot/cold tumbler, bobble filtering water bottle, and 8GB USB drive.
Two winners selected by LiveGreen Ambassadors:
No. 11, Tuire Cechin, program coordinator for pathology/microbiology, Immunology, Pathology & Infectious Disease (IPID) Graduate Program; wall sheeting, lumber scraps, pallet pieces, netting, hollow plant stems into a pollinator house.
Receives a $25 gift certificate to the UNMC Bookstore
No. 4, Patty Ostronic, volunteer services lead; wedding dress into pillows, tree skirt/bag, sachets, wreath, and rosary bag.
Receives a $25 gift certificate to the Company Store.
Winners of 10-minute chair massage from Sustainability Expo feedback drawing:
Pam Welch, vice chancellor for research office.
Anne Skinner, Allied Health research administration.
We’ll get information gathered from our recycling event, the rest of Earth Week and the effect it had, and bring that to you in a future article.
Thanks for helping to make Earth Week a success and for your valuable feedback.
I think Earth Week is a wonderful idea!!! Would love to be in Omaha to take advantage of all the exposure to new ideas and sustainability ideas. Also love to take advantage of getting some of the elderberry trees—they would make wonderful jelly–and for pancakes if you don't get it thick enough!!! How about come for Lincoln college of dentistry and College of nursing!!