A Busy Earth Month 2025

A diverse lineup of sustainability-related events attracted widespread interest during UMass Chan’s 2025 Earth Month celebration.

Sharing seeds, swapping useful clothes, cleaning Bell Hill Park in Worcester and touring a recyclable materials processing plant were among the featured events this year.

A big crowd favorite was the home electronics collection, where members of the campus community dropped off a total of 10,280 pounds of items, including, more than a ton of old CRT (tube) television sets, and another ton of flat-panel displays.

"It was great to see such an unprecedented volume of electronics this year! " said Kortni Wroten, sustainability and energy manager at UMass Chan, who led the Earth Month programming. "We partnered with an R2-certified vendor to ensure that materials are processed in a way that protects both people and the planet by keeping hazardous waste out of landfills and incinerators, and supporting a circular economy for electronics."

A clothing swap organized by the student-led UMass Climate Action Coalition and the Gold Humanism Honor Society proved popular, with nearly 1,000 pounds of gently used clothing being exchanged.

“It was a huge success,” said Eden Diamond, MD'25, co-leader of the coalition. “I want to thank everyone who participated.”

The Seed Share Fair was organized by the UMass Chan Pollination Association and the student-run Community Garden. Members of those groups brought in commercial seed packets and seeds they had collected from their own gardens to share with others on campus. The goal was to inspire more people to consider gardening to support pollinators, and to grow fruits and vegetables for healthy eating.

To see the full line-up of Earth Month 2025 events, visit
https://www.umassmed.edu/sustainability/earthmonth2025/

Featured photo above:  Katie Stickney, project manager, Community and Government Relations at UMass Chan Medical School, does her part at Bell Hill Park.