by Christina Gotuaco

Larger imageEducation Assistant Christina Gotuaco at the SCEC booth

On Earth Day, April 22, 2009, SCEC held an informational booth at the Sustainability Fair at USC from 11 am to 2 pm. Other vendors included several campus departments such as Acquisitions and the Department of Environmental Studies, and other organizations including Office Depot, and the LA Metro. All of the booths included ways for the students, staff, faculty, and campus visitors who attended the fair to improve personal sustainability practices. Several different booths were distributing eco-friendly, reusable bags for free. Many were offering free items to people passing by while others displayed green products in order to promote their availability, and to encourage people to consider sustainable alternatives in their everyday shopping.

The SCEC booth offered tips on sustainability in emergency preparedness including making digital copies of important documents, securing consumer electronics to protect them from being destroyed and trashed in the aftermath of an earthquake, and purchasing sustainable crank-powered flashlights and radios for emergency kits to eliminate the need for batteries and to reduce toxic battery waste. Student workers at the SCEC booth also distributed free SCEC pens and ShakeOut buttons, as well as informational literature like Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country and the Earthquake Myths brochures, to booth visitors.

Larger imageThe Sustainability Fair along Trousdale Parkway at the University of Southern California

Many people were enthusiastic about SCEC’s message, either sharing their own stories about their sustainable practices or leaving with new ideas about how they could better prepare for earthquakes. Overall turnout at the fair was successful, probably due to the free publicity provided by the distribution of the various environmentally friendly bags, which people carried around with them after attending the fair.