We participated in the Earth Day celebration on April 22nd by empowering UCF students to grow their own tomatoes! The College Democrats turned old plastic bottles into planters and used organic compost to help their peers sow tomato seeds. The planters featured catchy sayings like "Green is the new blue" and "College Democrats: your link to grassroots politics."

Eating local and organic produce is a great way to lower our carbon footprint and release fewer toxins into our ecosystems, and the Democrats thought helping students to grow their own vegetables might spur them to be more passionate about taking care of the environment and to think about the impact of their diets on the world.

Earth Day was also a chance to network with other groups concerned about the future of our environment including Student Sustainability Alliance, IDEAS, Energy and Sustainability Department, Outdoor Adventure Department, Repower America, BARC, the UCF arboretum, and groups from off campus like a green housing option called Sterling Central and a group of wildfire fighters from Seminole County Wilderness Areas.

The Earth Day initiative was a great success, and it was a fun and inexpensive way to engage the environmentally-friendly students on campus.