Student vendors and clubs lined the Ehinger Center patio with tables as the Drew Environmental Action League hosted its first annual Ecofest on Oct. 23. Bringing together clubs, student creators and environmental awareness, students had a chance to sell their art, crafts or goods as clubs and organizations informed students about environmental and political issues.
Not only did Ecofest help entrepreneurial students share their work, at the heart of the event was an initiative to raise money for a good cause. Fifteen percent of profits are being donated to Mountain Area Nutritional Needs Alliance Foodbank, a food distribution center flooded by Hurricane Helene that is rebuilding to serve affected counties in North Carolina.
Drew Environmental Action League President, Anna Beth Lee (‘25), hosted an activity asking students to sort through a collection of everyday waste such as water bottles, cardboard and food packaging to determine what can be recycled. Through this activity, students learned more about what can actually be recycled.
Attending the event were several other informational tables. The Drew Student Voter Project offered election information to students, educating them on how to register to vote and different methods of voting. The Theology School’s garden project, Transforming Environmental and Religious Resources for Action, handed out informational flyers and small glasses of flowers to interested Rangers. Drew AmeriCorps brought a detailed diagram to show how different pollutants affect local environments. Lastly, Students for Justice in Palestine tabled with keffiyehs and handmade ink-prints, with their personal profits being donated to the Palestinian Rights Roots Resistance Campaign to help plant olive trees to keep agricultural traditions alive, while also providing income for Palestinian families.
Plenty of students also attended to share their products with their peers. Freshman Michelle Reyes (‘28) sold mini acrylic paintings with their own mini easels to be displayed on. Sharing a table with her was Julia Scasny (‘27), who displayed her crocheted flowers and plushies. Holly Fischer (‘28) had Drew and Ranger-themed stickers as well as banners to decorate your dorm with, made using her Cricut machine.
Johanna Smith (‘28) brought multimedia art to sell, including collages and paintings. “It was actually really cool that people were really interested in my art and shared different interpretations with me, and I got to talk to them about my own interpretation of my art,” she said.
Other students made sketch commissions, sold seashell candles and earrings or sold their old garments to students who would give them new life. While Rangers mingled and crowded around tables to learn about sustainability and support their creative peers, graduate student Donyah Michelle (C’24) read out poetry from her recently published collection.
No matter what students were looking for coming to Ecofest, everyone got to experience the creativity of their peers and learn about sustainability, successfully achieving the event’s mission of awareness and community.
Evelyn Labbe is a first-year exploring academically.
Featured image courtesy of Dee Cohen. Image caption: “Gia Mora (’26) sells prints alongside Drew SJP selling Kuffiyehs.”
