Earth Day presentation promotes green message

Students at Eastern New Mexico University ignored the age old advice, "Don't play with your food," Monday, at an Earth Day celebration that featured Frisbees as plates.

CNJ staff photo: Tonjia Rolan

Chris Garre, left, and folk singer-songwriter Gabrielle Louise present an Earth Day message about green fuels Monday at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales.

The students ate an outdoor picnic lunch from green Frisbees and rinsed them off for later use as flying objects.

The message, said ENMU's recycling coordinator Kandice Kaiser, is "Go green. Recycle. We have the resources available so there's no reason not to do it."

The students were serenaded with original folk music by singer-songwriter Gabrielle Louise of Colorado, whose group travels in a bus converted to burn used vegetable oil for fuel. The group often gets the used oil free from restaurants who are glad to get rid of it, Louise said.

Chris Garre, Louise's tour manager, gave a presentation in the Sandia room about reducing our carbon footprint through alternative fuels.

Garre said humans consume 25 percent more energy than the Earth can regenerate and noted that real bio fuels are made from waste, or recycled products.

"What we normally think of as bio fuels are really agra-fuels. They are grown as crops and use pesticides and herbicides and deplete the soil," Garre said. "They're actually worse for the environment than carbon fuels."

Jamal Candley, an ENMU student, said he was there to "Give Mother Nature her day." Candley said we pollute every day and "It's good that we take one day to appreciate Mother Nature for all she does for us."

ENMU freshman Kendyl Tucker said "It's motivation to get outside more and definitely an hour away from homework."

Fast facts from Garre's Earth Day presentation:

Energy consumption in the U.S.

• 30 percent transportation
• 30 percent industry
• 20 percent commercial
• 20 percent residential

Fuel sources

• 90 percent of America's energy comes from coal

Solar power

• The sun produces 8,000 times more capturable energy than coal, petroleum and nuclear energy combined.

Commuters

• The average commute for Americans is 16 miles or 26 minutes.