Earth Day Essay Contest Explores Sustainable Living
The University is holding an Earth Day Essay Contest for students in grades five through 12. This year’s essay theme is “Sustainable Living, Caring for Creation.” The contest is offered free of charge and submissions sent electronically are due on or before April 5.Area students in grades five to 12 can participate in The University of Scranton’s Earth Day Essay Contest 2024. The contest is offered free of charge. This year’s essay theme is “Sustainable Living, Caring for Creation,” which explores topics related to caring for our common home and making changes to have a more sustainable lifestyle.
Topics students can write about include conservation, recycling, access to healthy eating, factory farming, renewable energy, single use containers, gardening, public transportation, vertical planting, plant-based meals, composting, LEDs, biking and walking, among many other subjects.
The essay theme is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home” and The University of Scranton’s commitment to join a coalition of colleges from around the world to develop, implement and evaluate initiatives around seven ecological goals over a seven-year period to meet the Pope’s call for integral ecology and to gain designation by the Vatican as a Laudato Si’ University.
Essays for students in grades five and six must be between 200 to 400 words. Essays for students in grades seven, eight and nine must be between 300 to 500 words. Essays for students in grades 10 to 12 must be between 500 to 700 words. Electronic submissions must be sent to susan.falbo@scranton.edu on or before Friday, April 5. Mail-in entries must be postmarked on or by April 3 to be considered and can be sent to: The University of Scranton, Office of Sustainability, Smurfit Arts Center, 445 Madison Avenue, Scranton, PA 18510, Attn: Earth Day Essay Contest.
Visit the Sustainability & Energy Management Department section of the University’s facilities management page, then scroll down to locate the 2024 Earth Day Essay Contest Guidelines.
Winners of the Earth Day Essay Contest will be announced by the University’s Sustainability Office and student Sustainability and Conservation Society at an Evening of Environmental Science event for participants and their families and teachers on Thursday, April 18, 2024, beginning at 5:30 p.m., in the Atrium of the Loyola Science Center on campus.
See photo gallery below for photos from last year's Evening of Environmental Science.
