EcoBods events center around Earth Day

The EcoBods meet every other Monday and Friday on campus. Local organizations like the Sierra Club sometimes attend the meetings to provide information about community improvement projects.

Earth Day was April 22 and the EcoBods are selling plants in Stoffer Science Hall and the Union. The EcoBods are a student organization with a mission to raise awareness of environmental issues. They have been working to help Washburn become eco-friendly through recycling in every building on campus and advocating mindfulness about human impact on the environment. The group also maintains an organic garden behind the Union.

“It’s open to anyone who has any interest in pursuing environmentally friendly activities,” said Kellis Bayless, professor of biology. “It’s not a special interest group; it’s very broad.”

Bayless says that people have joined the group for a variety of reasons, including gardening. The EcoBods meet every other Monday and Friday on campus. Local organizations like the Sierra Club sometimes attend the meetings to provide information about community improvement projects.

The EcoBods are hosting a series of documentaries about environmental issues this week. They hosted “Blackfish,” a documentary about the problems of having whales in captivity April 21. They screened “Coal Country,” a documentary about the controversial practice of mountaintop removal in the mining industry April 22. They will be screening “Food Matters” April 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Stoffer Science Hall 007. The film is about the effects of substituting medical treatment for a selective diet for diabetes, depression and cancer.

The EcoBods will be selling plants in Stoffer Science Hall and in the Union this week. The plants are all cut from larger plants from the greenhouse at Stoffer. Some of the plants include aloe, stargazer,  clover, ferns and rubber plants.

“We don’t really call it a sale,” said Nicole O’Brate, treasurer of the EcoBods. “We don’t have set prices.”

The EcoBods accept donations in exchange for the plants. The donations are used to fund a project where the EcoBods plant Kansas’ native plants around Stoffer Science Hall. The goal of this project is to create diversity in landscaping, increase aesthetics and preserve native plants.