Kerri Klatt

Contributor

Kerri Klatt | The Collegian | Carol Thaler of Great Lakes Biomimicry, spoke during the Earth Day celebration in the Culinary Building on April 21.

Lorain County Community College students and staff celebrated Earth Day on April 21. The celebration was to bring awareness to environmental issues and to promote ways to become proactive in preserving the Earth, and discovering new ways to live a sustainable lifestyle. The aim of the celebration was to educate, promote, and inspire creative thinking on how to preserve the environment for future generations.

The celebration included hands-on learning experiences, exhibits, and presentations from various community programs as well as LCCC programs.

“This kind of awareness is really important for us, for students, and for the forthcoming generation,” said Ramona Anand, faculty advisor for the Society of Women Engineers and project manager for the weld-ed department at LCCC. “How are we preserving the Earth? What are we giving to the forthcoming generations? And how are we maintaining the planet we are living in?” asked Anand. These questions were answered throughout the Earth Day presentations.

“Most people think of recycling and organic foods, but engaging in a more sustainable lifestyle can be much more than that,” said LCCC student, Megan Brown, who is majoring in art.

Carol Thaler, director of administration and outreach for Great Lakes Biomimicry, an organization that looks to solve human problems by imitating nature, was one of the speakers.

“We need to shift from learning about nature to learning from nature,” said Thaler. A hedgehog, for example, can curl into a ball and fall 40 ft. without injury, and Thaler said this animal can aid in finding solutions for sports concussions and in the use of helmets.

“There are many things that people can do to assist in bettering the environment,” said LCCC student Jamie Brod, a speech therapy major.

“We are all working collectively for a common motive. That motive is to increase the school for alternative energy and get into the renewable resources to preserve the planet Earth,” said Anand.