Hanley Sustainability Institute

By Zay Min Htike

The amber sun spilled across the park, casting a honeyed glow over everything as the lively music from a student band drifted through the trees, swaying gently in the April breeze. Everywhere you look, something is happening: tie-dye soaking into fabric, laughter bouncing off paddleboards in the lagoon and hammocks rocking students in an easy rhythm. It’s EarthFest at the University of Dayton, a day to fall back in love with our mother Earth and all the quirky, creative ways we try to protect it.

EarthFest is our annual spring gathering at Old River Park, a stunning 48-acre greenspace with a sparkling lagoon. It’s a mashup of sustainability, outdoor adventure and student creativity. Think: live music, garden tours, yard games, hammocks, paddling, a fishing competition, a bird walk and student-run booths all vibing together in the spring sun. It’s more than just a festival. It’s a love letter to the Earth.

This year, five teams of Hanley Sustainability Institute’s student leaders brought the heart of EarthFest to life. Each team designed an interactive activity that made sustainability personal, fun and unforgettable. Here’s how we did it:

Zero Waste Team: Something Worth Jumping For

The Zero Waste Team’s table drew quite a crowd. A pile of plastic bags, once destined for the landfill, now draped neatly along the table’s edge, twisted and braided into one long jump rope the team called the EcoSkips. Students sat cross-legged on the grass, fingers knotting plastic into a new purpose. When the rope was finished, they carried it to an open field and took turns skipping across the lawn, laughter rising with each jump beneath the afternoon sun. There was something unexpectedly hopeful about it: watching waste become play and activity emerge from what was once abandoned.

That transformation echoed the team’s broader effort throughout campus, such as sorting waste at the university’s events, helping students navigate what waste goes into which bin and providing systems that help keep recyclables and compostables out of landfills. But more than that, their work encourages a shift in how we see the things we throw away. The rope wasn’t just a craft; it represented what’s possible when we stop seeing trash as the end of a story and instead view it as a new beginning.

Education Team: A Tree Grown From Habits

A few steps away, the Education Team had planted a tree. Not a real one, but one made of cardboard and imagination, with branches covered in paper leaves, each one carrying a handwritten glimpse into someone’s everyday sustainability. “What does sustainability mean to you?” the sign asked, and students answered: “Riding my bike to class.” “Thrifting with friends.” “Touching grass lol.” There was no lecturing here — just students talking to each other, learning from one another in the most organic way through moments of shared reflection.

The tree, much like the team behind it, wasn’t there to provide definitive answers. It offered a space for students to reflect, respond and realize that sustainability is often found in the little things in our lives. The tree resembled the team’s mission: not just to teach, but to show that sustainability belongs to everyone and that learning, particularly from peer-to-peer, can be both personal and transformational. Peer-to-peer education may not always be flashy, yet it leaves a lasting impact. Like the paper leaves still hanging from the branches, these handwritten reflections remain rooted long after the event is over.

Food Systems Team: Rolling Seeds, Growing Futures

Set further into the greenery, the Food Systems Team had laid out their table with dirt under their fingernails and sunflowers on their minds. At their table, hands moved slowly, intentionally, rolling native wildflower seeds into balls of clay, dirt and compost, pressing hope into each crumble. Purple coneflower, showy milkweed, dwarf sunflowers — each seed bomb is a promise wrapped in soil, meant to be tossed into soil and left to bloom. Around them, conversations erupted about native species, pollinators and what it means to plant with purpose.

The team also led a garden tour through Old River Park’s produce beds, where vegetables were already reaching for the sun. These gardens don’t just grow food; they nurture the community. They feed students through HSI’s Community Supported Agriculture program and nourish the greater Dayton community through partnerships like Miami Valley Meals, in which chefs transform produce into nourishment. The act of making a seed bomb may seem small and almost playful, but in it lives a profound lesson: that even in a world of complex food systems, regeneration can begin with your hands in the dirt.

Residential Energy Team: What the Sun Shows You

At the Residential Energy Team booth, color revealed what’s often overlooked. Students held tiny plastic beads and then watched as they shifted into vibrant hues beneath the sun. These solar-reactive beads weren’t just pretty; they quietly demonstrated how insulation works. By observing how various beads reacted under sunlight, students could see firsthand how invisible forces like UV rays interact with various materials around us. It was a simple experiment, but it highlighted a larger reality: our homes are systems and how we design, insulate and live in them directly shapes the energy they consume. In the student neighborhood, it’s easy to overlook a drafty window or a slightly misused thermostat — but these minor inefficiencies pile up.

The Residential Energy Team works to make those hidden dynamics visible. By helping residents understand how their homes function, they’re also helping them understand how energy systems impact our everyday comfort, cost, and energy justice. Like the beads, our energy systems are always responding to their surroundings and sometimes, all it takes is a little sunlight to see it clearly.

Circularity Team: Secondhand, First Choice

Meanwhile, the Circularity Team brought their signature Clothing Swap. Racks of pre-loved jeans, patterned button-downs and flowy skirts awaited to be rediscovered. Their hangers clinked like wind chimes as students browsed the collection, some hunting for a statement piece, others just curious to try a new style, but all part of something refreshingly intentional. Here, fashion wasn’t about chasing trends; it was about reimagining what already exists. A blouse once forgotten in the back of someone’s drawer could become another’s favorite find.

Behind the scenes, data spoke volumes: 77.1 pounds of clothing were swapped among students, with an additional 111 pounds donated to local nonprofits like St. Vincent de Paul. That’s 188.1 pounds of potential landfill waste rerouted toward new lives. The team’s effort reminded us to do things differently and recognize the worth in what we already have and understand that value doesn’t vanish with use; it evolves. In every garment exchanged, there’s an invitation to move beyond fast fashion’s throwaway culture toward reuse, renewal and a circular way of living and shopping.

Personal Projects by HSI Student Leaders

And then, there were the animals. Lily Votta’s personal project, in collaboration with Five Rivers MetroParks, brought EarthFest’s most beloved guests: a red-tailed hawk named Eragon, a wide-eyed screech owl called Juniper, three eastern box turtles named CJ, Myrtle, and Terri, and a gray rat snake named JJ. The crowds gathered, fascinated, and camera-ready. Children squealed with excitement, and college students swooned. And somewhere in that sea of reactions was the truth Lily had hoped to share: people care about what they can see, touch, and connect with.

Lily said, “I believe that to get people to protect the environment, people first need to care about it, and that starts with seeing what they’re protecting. People love connecting with wildlife, and this was a great opportunity to share how we can protect these animals.” Conservation can feel abstract, but a snake curled lazily around your wrist? That’s real. That’s memorable. And it opens the door to a discussion about habitats, ecosystems and what it means to protect the wild world we love.

Emily Bednarski (Circularity Team): The T-Shirt That Traveled EarthFest

Over by the welcome table, Emily Bednarski was handing out something you couldn’t buy but had to earn through experience. As part of her personal project, Emily Bednarski reimagined the idea of a giveaway, viewing it as a reflection of participation and intention, rather than a prize. She had created a sustainably made EarthFest T-shirt — simple, soft and free for those who took the time to engage. To get one, students had to complete an EarthFest passport which included collecting stamps by visiting booths, joining in on activities and learning from each team. It wasn’t just a game; it was an invitation to participate more fully, to move beyond just passing through.

The shirt was produced by TS Designs, made with sustainable materials and intention, and became more than a giveaway. It was a wearable souvenir of what the day stood for and also a nod to slow fashion and conscious choices. Something you’d actually want to keep — and remember.

Zay Min Htike (Circularity Team) : Serving Looks, Saving Landfills

And finally — hi, I’m Zay, and I had the honor of organizing and emceeing EarthFest’s first-ever Sustainable Fashion Show. It was a simple setup, but it was bold in intention, and the energy was everything. Picture this: a group of students, serving in entirely thrifted, repurposed, or upcycled outfits, strutting down a sunlit runway like it was the Met Gala. Some wore reworked cargo pants and thrifted tops stitched with care; others layered vintage silhouettes into something entirely their own. Every look was more than just fashion, it told a story. Of second chances. Of garments rescued from ending up in the landfill and brought back to life. Of personal identity and creativity stitched into fabric.

As the crowd cheered and cameras flashed, I kept thinking: fashion doesn’t have to be fast to look stylish. It can be slow. Mindful. Circular. A way to dress not just your body, but your values. And that afternoon, under the Dayton sky, secondhand took the center stage. It felt like something that would last. Something meaningful. A movement.

EarthFest: A Glimpse of What Could Be

EarthFest is many things: a celebration, an outdoor classroom, a picnic, a concert. But more than anything, it’s a glimpse into the future we’re trying to build at the University of Dayton — one where sustainability feels less like a chore and more like a choice you are happy to make.

With seed bombs in soil-stained palms, secondhand fits on runways, solar beads shining in the sun and the cutest red-tailed hawk, HSI student leaders didn’t just set up tables; we planted a vision of what could be. We offered moments to slow down. To look more closely. To imagine differently.

And if EarthFest showed us anything, it’s that the shift isn’t some far-off dream. It’s already here. Rooting itself in conversations, community and the ordinary magic of a spring day, where everything feels possible.