This year, College’s Green Week launches on the week of the November 14, an earlier start from the slot of last year which saw the event run alongside the annual sabbatical elections. The aim of the week is to promote environmental awareness across campus, and this year we see even more energy injected into this campaign, with added events and society collaborations.
In an interview with TCDSU’s Environmental Officer, Thomas Emmet, stated that the schedule change hopes to give the campaign week more exposure, and will allow for the involvement of more societies, whose key members won’t be focused on campaigning. Emmet also stated that this “gives a sharper focus to the week, rather than it being secondary to the sabbatical elections.”
This change was made after TCDSU President Kieran McNulty and Emmet discussed the necessity of giving the week a more focal spot in the College calendar, with McNulty explaining that he wishes to give the wealth of environmental initiatives across campus a week to “showcase” what they are doing.
In terms of his aspirations for what Green Week will achieve across College, Emmet noted that he hopes: “the week appeals to a wider and more diverse contingent of Trinity.” In order to establish a wide range of events on during the week, he reached out to as many societies as possible – this year has seen a rise in societies involved, including ZooSoc, The Hist and more. Emmet also feels the involvement of the GSU and Trinity Hall JCR will be a valuable addition to the week.
The theme of this year’s Green Week is “Water”, and one event in particular that is gathering momentum is “The Pav Is Sinking!”, a pub night in collaboration with EnviroSoc, TAF and VDP. The idea is to highlight that as global water levels rise, the Pav will be the first Trinity location to be submerged, so Pav-goers are asked to come dressed in underwater gear and imagine that time has fast-forwarded to an universe subjected to the harsh consequences of global warming.
Head of the TCDSU Environment Lobby Group, Robyn Page-Cowman, spoke to Trinity News about the launch of their campaign at 6pm Wednesday in the Edmund Burke Theatre, where they plan to outline their roadmap for the year. Alongside help from Green Party Senator Grace O’Sullivan, the group has thus far met with a range of NGOs, and passed through motions to the SU to call for a ban on Fracking and Microbeads. Cowman states that they hope their campaign launch within the College community will enable students interested to track their work and “add further voice” to their campaign.
However, that’s not all that’s on offer this week; the increased collaboration with societies is evident in the packed timetable, with The Hist, KnitSoc, DU History and many more. These events can entice even the most environmentally-unaware student – who doesn’t love a good pub quiz? This wide outreach across a variety of College societies hopes to attract more event-goers from across campus than previous years, and from looking at the busy schedule, it clear that there is something for everyone.
