SGA holds Green Week

In the middle of their set, Civil Twilight had a shortage in their sound system.

As the band's amplified voices and guitars faded, lead singer Steven McKellar turned to his bandmates.

"Well, it is Earth Week," he said. "Maybe the earth's trying to tell us something."

The band was part of a concert on the Quad Tuesday night, an event held for the University's observation of Green Week.

"Green Week is a week that the University of Alabama has been observing for several years. It is the week leading up to Earth Day. During this week, we strive to increase environmental consciousness and awareness through events that aim to target all students, faculty and staff," said Kendra Key, a former Arts and Sciences SGA senator.

Key, a sophomore majoring in political science, said she hopes students have a heightened awareness of environmental problems as a result of this week.

"There are so many things that students can do to help our environment that they aren't aware of," she said.

"It's also important because it brings students together for an important cause that will have an impact on them," Key said.

Vera Welch, the director of the SGA Department of Environmental Concerns, said the week had many purposes.

"Basically, Earth Week is just to get students to notice what's going on around campus, to get them to look at different ways to be green and just to get people talking," she said.

Welch, a junior majoring in classics, described the week as an awareness event.

"We're trying to raise awareness and remember to be green," she said.

"It's getting a lot of publicity, so we think it's going to go well," she said. "We hosted Green Week last year, and just seems that this year, there's a much bigger response."

The concert and recycled luminaries on the Quad were originally slated for Monday, but had to be postponed to Tuesday evening on account of weather concerns.

McKellar, said Civil Twilight hails from South Africa, and the band has been touring in the Southeast.

They played a set on the Ferguson Center plaza, he said, and were approached about possibly participating in the Earth Week concert.

McKellar and the band were on their way to South Carolina, but stayed longer at the University to play.

"I think [the environment] is not terribly spoken about, but I think we're starting to become more aware of it," McKellar said. "Everybody is. If the band can be a part of that, I'm all for it."

Local band The Great Big No also played. Daniel Welch, the band's keyboardist, said the concert gave the band an opportunity to bring attention to the earth while sharing their music with students.

"I think it's in all of our mindsets to keep environmentally sound. It concerns us all," he said. "We're here to play. If we can play and we can do something to represent activism, then that's all for the better, and we get to play our music for people."

Grant Wilson, a freshman majoring in theatre, said he came to the concert to hear The Great Big No.

Wilson said he had already participated in another Green Week event, tie-dying on the Ferguson Center plaza, and he plans to attend others.

On Tuesday, students brought old t-shirts the Ferguson Center plaza to tie-dye.

"The idea behind that was just to re-use old stuff and make it new," Welch said.

Tonight's Green Week event is a screening of selected episodes of the Discovery Channel series "Planet Earth" in the Ferguson Center theater.

On Thursday, the SGA is holding a Critical Mass Bike Ride. Students can bring their bicycles and meet at Denny Chimes at 7:30 p.m. to ride down University Boulevard in an attempt to show other means of transportation besides cars.

There will be no event planned on Friday, and the week will culminate with Earth Fest on Sunday. All events are free.

Carly James, a freshman majoring in anthropology and international studies, said the week has been well-publicized.

"I've heard a lot about it, and I really like the whole green campaign," she said. "I've heard about [Green Week] from multiple people and multiple media sources."

Elizabeth Pratt, a freshman majoring in French, said she is impressed by the campus' response.

"I appreciate people's effort for Green Week," she said. "It's really heartening to see a campus this big to have such an involved effort to going green."