UAMS Celebrates Earth Day with Tree Plantings and Exhibits

By Nate Hinkel

(From left) Robert Airo director of the UAMS Office of Sustainability; Karen Jackson, UAMS director of parking operations; Heather Johnston, a student in the health systems administration program; and Pat Tufford from Campus Operations plant a bald cypress tree near the Ray Winder Parking Lot.

Central Arkansas Transit says its free front-loading bike rack promotes efficiency within the area’s bicycling community.

Entergy was giving out energy-efficient lightbulbs that were popular with attendees.

Employees, students and the public brought electronic items to campus for recycling, along with personal documents to be fed into a specially designed mobile shredding truck from Shred Smart with an industrial grade shredder. Paper shredding at this year’s event was more than twice it was in the previous two years.

The UAMS Office of Sustainability hosted the event to raise awareness about sustainability, the environment and energy savings.

“Our third annual Earth Day Event was a tremendous success and had record numbers attending,” said Robert Airo, director of the UAMS Office of Sustainability. “We appreciate the hard work of the exhibitors for making this event successful.”

UAMS had two tree plantings, one on the north side of the I. Dodd Wilson Education Building and the second in the Ray Winder Field Parking Lot. Both trees were donated by the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

Helping with the tree plantings were Phil McNeill, vice chancellor of campus operations; Karen Jackson, director of parking operations; Heather Johnston, a UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health (COPH) student, UAMS Tree Campus USA team member and recycling coordinator for COPH; and Patrick Tufford, from the UAMS Grounds Department.

The event featured 19 exhibits from not only UAMS but also city and state departments. Exhibitors included Allied Waste, Little Rock Recycling, Entergy, Metroplan, Shred Smart, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and UAMS Parking Operations. Each booth offered information and giveaways. Entergy gave away packages of energy-efficient light bulbs. Little Rock city workers provided information on curbside recycling, while the Arkansas Forestry Commission gave away 200 trees for planting.