Victoria McKenzie/ Winonan
Sounds of energetic music and voices filled the room as Winona State University students, faculty and staff participated in the various activities and booths at the Sustainable Futures Fair. The fair took place from 3 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10 in the upper hyphen of Kryzsko Commons.
The fair introduced students, faculty and staff to this year’s theme for Winona State: “Sustainable Futures.” The Winona State Sustainability Committee is trying to inform more people about how to live sustainably and how their actions affect the environment through other events they will host throughout the year.
The fair enabled students, faculty and staff to be introduced to the theme in a light matter.
Many activities at the fair were informational and entertaining including historical enactments, music and a selfie booth. These booths provided information on sustainability and were presented by different groups ranging from student organizations to local businesses.
Some local business stands sold sustainable products such as puppets, jewelry and honey.
“It’s a very important thing to learn about our community and how we affect it,” Holly Loberg, the teaching assistant for the leadership community on West Campus, said.
Arthur Hawkins, the committee’s sustainability adviser, commented on the importance of versatility. He said he finds it important to have many viewpoints available when it comes to ideas about sustainability because collaborating leads to better solutions.
Hawkins became the sustainability adviser after retiring from the fish and wildlife service. He said he felt he had perspectives from the field to benefit students. He said he wanted to help give sustainability a larger role in the education of Winona State students. Now, Hawkins is a part-time employee hired to share his expertise on sustainability, specifically ecological sustainability.
Winona State is making it their goal to educate the community on sustainability and to inspire people to become involved and take responsibility.
“It’s the fight of a lifetime. It’s time for everyone to get serious about sustainability and do their best to commit to taking a role in addressing the issues,” Hawkins said.
