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SALISBURY, MD---As Earth Day approaches, ºÚÁÏÍø is sharing the “green” through new sustainable initiatives on and off campus.

• Download Earth Day at SU 2011 Poster (PDF)

The SU Student Government Association hosts an Earth Day Festival from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in Red Square. Highlights include student sustainability projects, local organic farmers and farmers market representatives, a “make your own recycling bin” booth, a “Guess for Gas” raffle, bicycle tune-ups and giveaways.

That evening, the Environmental Students Association hosts an Earth Day panel featuring SU faculty Tom Horton and Dr. Joan Maloof, and Lower Eastern Shore Sustainable Organic Network (LESSON) project manager Matt Heim. Their discussion, “Think Globally, Act Locally,” begins at 7:30 p.m. in Henson Hall Room 243.

Thanks to a $500 grant from Delmarva Power, secured by Bill Nelson, faculty in SU’s Environmental Studies Program, some local school teachers soon will receive “Kill A Watt” meters to monitor energy use in their classrooms.

These meters typically help homeowners measure how much excess electricity is consumed by televisions, computers and other devices plugged in when not in use. The results can be used to calculate how much those “dead” kilowatt hours add to the average monthly electric bill.

Students from the University’s Green Floor Living Learning Community will join other environmental studies majors to present and demonstrate the meters in Wicomico County elementary and middle schools. They will then donate the devices to the schools to allow teachers to use them for future experiments and demonstrations.

On campus, SU’s Recycling Department has expanded services to include collection and recycling of rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries. Recycling receptacles are available at locations throughout the University. Also in the “green” spirit, SU’s Motor Pool has replaced some of its older, higher-mileage vehicles with environmentally friendlier hybrid cars.

SU’s commitment to sustainability has not gone unnoticed. President Janet Dudley-Eshbach recently accepted the WMDT/Mountaire Environmental Star Award on behalf of the campus. SU was the first institution of higher education to be honored.

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.