Celebrated annually since April 22, 1970, Earth Day has become a way for nature advocates to promote awareness of sustainability and environmental issues.

Just after noon Wednesday, Maine climatologist and UMaine professor George Jacobson spoke about the effects of global warming in the state.

He discussed negative environmental effects from the Industrial Revolution to the present, through carbon dioxide output in the atmosphere which will change the course of climate and temperature over time.

“Even if humans start to change their mitigation, the influences are already large,” Jacobson said. “It’s too late to have no consequences.”

At 2 p.m., students involved in various environmental organizations discussed their recent trip to Washington, D.C. for a conference on clean energy, part of the Power Shift Campaign. They were part of a group of 1,200 students who represented all 50 states to discuss clean energy alternatives through government legislation.

“I liked all that spirit. It’s great to see people who are willing to fight for green energy,” said Sonja Dragovic.

On the final day of the Power Shift conference, the students rallied on Capitol Hill to promote and influence legislation for cleaner types of alternative energy.

Another facet of UMaine’s Earth Day awareness was promoted through the second annual bicycle swap last weekend.

Rows of bicycles lined the Student Recreation and Fitness Center for the bike swap on April 19. The University of Maine Cycling Club and Bicycle Coalition of Maine ran the swap. The money earned from the bike swap will go into educational programs across Maine to teach children about bicycle safety.

The swap included bikes for all ages along with helmets, bike seats, biking clothing and safety information. There was an area where people could test ride bikes before buying them.

The swap began over 10 years ago – the University of Southern Maine held the event on their campus for almost seven years. The Bicycle Coalition recently moved the swap to UMaine for a better fit.

“We are trying to serve members in central Maine to expand the opportunity for people to get bikes,” said Maine Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Allison Vogt.

In one year, the swap doubled in size. Last year’s swap sold 78 bikes – this year over 200 bikes were entered.

“People were picking everything, this [is] just a good deal,” said David Auclair, volunteer and University of Maine Class of 1964 alumnus.

When the doors at the Rec Center opened at 10 a.m., a swarm of people entered.

“At 10, there was a parade of people leaving with bikes,” said Maggie Warren, the event and volunteer coordinator for the Maine Bicycle Coalition.

Warren believes the popularity of the bike swap is in direct connection with the economic downturn.

“At first I thought it would be popular because of the gas prices but even with gas prices down, people still want to bike,” Warren said.

Graduate student Erik DaSilva was looking for a stroller to attach to his bike for his six-week-old daughter, Winn. He found a stroller for $75 and gave a $25 donation to the Bicycle Coalition.

“We prefer to ride instead of driving,” DaSilva said. “This [stroller] just needs a little TLC.”

There has been discussion of the bike swap becoming a fall event, but no final decisions have been made.

“I wanted to make an educated guess that people could actually relate to,” said Green Team president Walter Lazarz, a construction management technology junior.

The amount of fuel was calculated by a complicated process of conversions, according to Lazarz. He used information from Constellation New Energy and the Maine Environmental Protection Agency.

“If you ask the average student on campus how much fuel they use, I would venture to say they just don’t know,” said Lazarz. We are trying to give them a relative idea.”

On each side of the box is a poster. One shows the mathematics used to calculate the fuel amount. Two are lists of what measures are already being taken for campus to be more sustainable and suggestions on what can be done in the future. The last is a poster of the prophetic Dr. Suess creature, the Lorax, who says, “I’ll yell and I’ll shout for the fine things on Earth that are on their way out!”

“I think there will be people who don’t care and there will be people who will be shocked and say, ‘I can’t believe I used this much,’” said Green Team member Ele Jones, an anthropology and history sophomore.

Sixty photos of UMaine students are taped to the box. The photos were taken in the first week of April. Each student holds a sign with a message supporting sustainability. On Earth Day, Lazarz brought the signs and took photos of students beside Project Awareness to add to the collection.

“We’re going to be sending pictures like that to our state representatives and senators of Maine,” said Lazarz to psychology senior Ashley Suitter as he took her photo with a sign that read, “I love windmills!”

“It’s just nice to see people getting out and trying to make everyone else aware of the consumption of energy by campus and by people individually,” Suitter said.

“I want to see more individuals working toward a more sustainable UMaine but I also think there’s been a lot of work done already,” Lazarz said.

The Green Team set up a table beside the display and brought chalk for people to write comments and suggestions around the posters on the cube. By noon, messages such as “Comprehensive Campus Recycling” and “More Carpooling!” had been written.

“This is a pretty cool idea,”said Paige Case, a chemical engineering sophomore. “I’ll probably join the Green Team after this. I didn’t know about it.” Case wore a T-shirt that read “Green is the new black” and had Lazarz take her picture with a sign that read “Clean Energy.”

Green Team was founded by Lazarz and Michael Parker in fall 2007 with a mission statement promoting efficiency and sustainability on campus and in the surrounding community. For more information on the Green Team or Project Awareness, contact Walter Lazarz on FirstClass.