The Environmental Endeavors Commission (EEC) organized several events around campus through throughout the week to commemorate Earth Day.

These events include live music, movies and a Sustainability Showcase on Thursday. Brittany Schoenick, a member of the EEC, said she wants this to be a learning experience for people.

“We hope for more people to be aware of what’s going on in terms of the environment, and conservation and sustainability.”

Senior Ben Ponkratz, director of the EEC, hopes these events will be a good building point for the future.

“This Earth Week is sort of a jumping-off point for students to get involved and rally around the cause.”

The student groups involved with today’s showcase are the Conservationists, Student National Environmental Health Association, Hobnailers, Foodlums and the Environmental Adventure Center, Schoenick said. The event will take place on the campus mall from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Senior and secretary for The Foodlums Briana Odegard, said that one of the goals of her group is to educate people about the effects food consumption has on the environment.

For instance, she said that “food miles” — the distance food travels to get to us — can have a negative effect on the environment. That is one of the reasons why the group pushes for local food.

“By being (at the showcase),” she said, “it helps bring people’s awareness that food does have a huge environmental impact.”

There will also be groups from outside campus such as the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, Ponkratz said. He wants to give people the opportunity to learn from or possibly join one of these groups, so that they can “follow their passions.”

“I’m hoping that students will become engaged … that students benefit from the communication,” he said.

There will also be music behind Putnam Hall on Tuesday. Starting at noon, senior Anastasia Davis will be performing followed by Roster McCabe and Irie Sol.

Schoenick said that the artists that were picked share the environmental beliefs and desires that the EEC hopes to promote.

Throughout the week there will also be movies with an environmental focus. On Tuesday there will be “Green Fire” which is a documentary about Aldo Leopold, and on Wednesday there is “Zeitgeist: Moving Forward,” which is about a “better way forward” environmentally.

The final film will be shown on Thursday and is “The Age of Stupid,” which is about a man from the future looking back on today’s society and what we could have done to make it better, Schoenick said. It will be shown at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.

“Green Fire” costs $5, but the other two films are free. They all can be seen in Schneider 100.

As incentive for people to check out the events, there will be a raffle where prizes will be given out. To enter, all one has to do is stop by a booth, attend the concert or prove that a bicycle was taken to school.

The prizes include Just Local gift certificates, biker headlights and aluminum water bottles, according to the press release.

They will be collecting the tickets Tuesday and Thursday at their table at the showcase.

This celebration is paid for by the Green Fund, Ponkratz said. It helps fund environmental issues and is an additional $10 charge per semester for students. The EEC controls the Green Fund.

The charge passed via referendum, according to a UW-Eau Claire press release. Ponkratz praised students for this decision.

“I want to recognize the student enthusiasm and the student enthusiasm that is on campus here,” he said. “Students said, ‘Yes, I will pay $10 a semester because I care about the environment.’”

Ponkratz and Schoenick hope to inspire a sense of community with these events, and they also, along with Odegard, believe that it will need to be a group effort to improve and protect our environment.

“In order to make an impact on the Earth, there needs to be a sense of community,” Schoenick said. “We’re all working together for one thing.”