Contributed by: Anthony Waldrop, Westmont College student and member of Renewal's Student Leadership Team

Westmont College, a small Christian school in the hills of southern California, recently held a creation care week in conjunction with Renewal’s nationwide Day of Service for God's Creation.  Held April 20^th-25^th, the week-long event was organized by A Rocha Westmont, Westmont’s student environmental club.

The goal of the week was ‘to make the campus community more aware of the impact our actions have on the environment and to have fun doing good for the earth.’  To accomplish this goal, A Rocha Westmont planned a number of activities and events throughout the week.

One of the most successful activities was a sustainability pledge drive. A Rocha set up a table in the cafeteria and encouraged people to ‘Take the Pledge!’  As a result, students, staff & faculty pledged to commit to focus on doing one new sustainable thing during the Creation Care Week.  After taking the pledge participants received a bracelet to remind them of their commitment, a bookmark with sustainability tips, and were entered into raffles to win t-shirts and prizes from local businesses. From girls begrudgingly pledging to not blow dry their hair, to guys jumping at the chance to not take a shower for a week, Westmont students were thrilled at the chance to be creative in their sustainability efforts. According to two sophomore girls, the pledges of shorter showers and turning off electronics at night were ‘pretty easy’ and ‘not life-altering.’ Over 300 people- a full one third of the campus- participated in the sustainability pledge including faculty, staff, and students!

Students also had the opportunity to participate in creation care events throughout the week.  One unique and popular event was the environmental game show known as Wayne’s Eco-world.  It was hosted by "Wayne" and "Garth" who brought a rock and roll flavor to environmental topics.  Amid their trademark phrases of ‘Excellent, excellent…’ and ‘I think I’m gonna hurl…’ they quizzed participants on environmental topics such as water use, species extinction, and stewardship principles.  The eco-nerd winner was sophomore Elizabeth Clendenen who won a trip to Channel Islands National Park. 

A Rocha also hosted a movie night, which highlighted over-consumption by showing the film ‘The Story of Stuff’ and Disney-Pixar’s newest film, ‘Wall-e.’  These two films fostered a following discussion on what the Christian community’s role should be in the context of our current materialistic culture.  All of the attendees agreed that living simply is the way to go, but also expressed frustration about how complicated this issue can be.  Overall, the event brought an issue to the forefront that many Christian students have not grappled with.

Finally, what better way to spread creation care principles than through a campus-wide competition?!  The students got really excited for the dorm cup competition, which challenged each dorm to bring re-usable mugs to the Dining Commons instead of using disposable cups.  A major problem at Westmont is the waste that is created by the use of non-biodegradable coffee cups.  Each dorm competed to try to win the grand prize- an end of semester dessert party. The competition was such a success that the grand prize was only won by a miniscule hundredth of a percent!  A Rocha’s hope is that students will learn that we don’t have to live in a culture where throwing things away is the accepted norm.

All in all, Westmont College's first annual Creation Care Week was an incredible success!  The entire student community was abuzz with creation care, and really rallied around the cause. From our food service’s Earth Day Picnic Dinner out on the beautiful Westmont grounds, to the Earth Day prayer by our campus pastor Ben Patterson, to the recycling video game competition put on by the Westmont Physical Plant, this small Christian college is embracing the call to be steward of God’s creation. 





Pictured above: In honor of Earth Day, Westmont's food services removed disposable coffee cups from the cafeteria. One Westmont student is super-excited that he remembered his re-usable coffee mug, while the other is envious of his eco-friendliness and in need of her daily caffeine fix!!!