Several on-campus organizations joined together for an Earth Day celebration on April 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the SHSU plaza.

Participants took part in outdoor yoga, learned how to convert a plastic bottle into a planter and got free goodies. There were opportunities to paint a pot with program council, then students could stop by the Residence Life tent to get a plant for their newly painted pot.

Urban Forester and Sustainability Committee member Evan Anderson led a campus tree tour from 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

“The more people involved and helping out, and furthering this idea of being sustainable and green on campus, the bigger it will get,” Anderson said. “We just need more people involved in making green decisions on campus.”

Anderson emphasized how important it is to live a conscious lifestyle, and gave some tips on how students can stay green. He said the number one priority is saving energy.

“Remember to turn lights off that you’re not using,” Anderson said. “Try to keep your thermostats not too cold, not too hot. That’s a big one: saving electricity. Saving water any way that you can, and recycling. If you got a plastic bottle, put it in recycling. Start picking out these little things you can do every day, turn off lights when you can, use a reusable water bottle. Little things like that.”

The Sustainability Committee is an on-campus organization dedicated to encouraging and maintaining a sustainable lifestyle.

“That’s the big future of the Sustainability Committee: pushing water and sustainability saving,” Anderson said. “Maintaining trees and greenspace on campus has a lot of benefits besides being nice to look at, they save our energy, clean our air. Trees can do all kinds of things.”

Students can participate in a photo contest by posting a picture of them and anything Earth Day related to Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #EarthDaySHSU. Winner will get prizes like meal vouchers and SHSU gear.