Creighton students gathered on Earth Day, Friday, April 22, outside of Swanson Hall for Vibe & Paint, a social event designed by the Eileen B. Lieben Center for Women to help students learn how they can lessen their plastic pollution without making economic sacrifices.

At this annual social event, students decorate reusable tote bags in an effort to reduce their use of plastic bags.  Sydney Westphal, a junior majoring in sustainability who helped organize the event, said events like this help not only raise awareness about our impact on the enviornment, but instill the values of sustainability and environmental friendliness on campus.

“What’s important about the Women’s Center being an on-campus organization is that we can show the university what students care about,” said Westphal.  “The higher-ups care what we think and by showing support of events like this we are showing support for initiatives for more sustainability and environmentally friendly policies on campus.”

Students attending came for a variety of reasons, from wanting to enjoy the beautiful day and socialize, to promote sustainability with a reusable bag

“It’s just perfect,” said Lauren Ramirez, a freshman in the College of Nursing. “The tote bags are trying to promote sustainability.  Especially on Earth Day, it’s just something really fun to do outside and it’s such a beautiful day.”

The Lieben Center shares that plastic often ends up in our waterways which hurts all living things.  To truly advocate for a healthy planet, recycling is not enough.

Many students agree that recycling is not always the best choice.

“Some plastic, if you do recycle it, doesn’t actually get recycled and it just kind of backfires,” said Bethy Ruiz, a freshman in the College of Nursing.  “With these bags, it’s easier because you just keep reusing them and it doesn’t backfire.”

Bethy Ruiz and her twin sister Nikki, also a freshman in the Heider College of Business, say they have multiple reusable bags at home, but when they are away at Creighton, they don’t have a lot of options.

“I felt like having something we could take anywhere else would be super nice and it would help reduce our waste even more because instead of just recycling, you are reusing everything,” said Nikki Ruiz.

“I would definitely do this next year,” said Westphal.  “It shows a way of still being artistic while being conscious about our actions.”