Gladiators Go Green: The JCU Sustainability Fair
On April 16, 2025, the JCU Student Engagement Office, in collaboration with the Sustainability Office, hosted a sustainability fair at the Lemon Tree courtyard of the Guarini Campus. In celebration of Earth Day, many JCU clubs and offices came together to foster sustainability on campus and in everyday life. Some clubs and offices in attendance included: the Film Appreciation Club, the Art and Design Club, the Grassroots Club, STAND, Residential Life, the Health and Wellbeing Office, the Community Service Office, and the Athletics Office.
JCU’s Assistant Director of Student Engagement, Federica Bocco, helped organize the event because she feels it is important to create a green circular economy and promote sustainability within JCU. This was done by collecting used clothes and books from the community, giving informational materials about food and food waste, and holding sustainable activities such as tote bag decorating.
“Our goal is to create awareness, but also actually do something to create a green circular economy,” Bocco said. “We have about 500 articles of clothing that could have been trashed or unused, but instead we are giving them another opportunity, and whatever is not purchased today will be given to refugee centers in Rome.”
Along with the clothing donations, the Community Service and Athletic Offices promoted an event they created called “plogging.” The Community Service Office, which organizes cleanups in the Trastevere neighborhood every week, wanted to hold a special event to celebrate Earth Day. Students will be jogging around Villa Borghese, a famous park in the center of Rome, and picking up trash to support a clean environment, thus “plogging.”
STAND, a humanitarian society at JCU, had a wide variety of used books for donation. In order to get a book, one could donate cash or trade non-perishable items such as food cans and pasta. All of the proceeds were given to underprivileged communities in Rome.
Other clubs gave informational sessions to spread awareness about sustainability. Max Nokes of the Film Appreciation Club discussed the new objectives and goals the film industry has for sustainable filmmaking.
“Unfortunately, filmmaking is one of the most harmful things for the environment, so we are here to discuss what filmmakers have begun to change to become more sustainable, such as small-scale filmmaking and techniques,” Nokes said.
Featured films included Ponyo, Finding Nemo, and Princess Mononoke, which have deep messages and themes of the environment and its relationship with humanity. Nokes also promoted documentaries that discussed the state of the planet and what can be done for a more sustainable future.
