Use Earth Day to appreciate the natural beauty of campus

This Saturday is Earth Day, a holiday dedicated to the celebration of environmental protection. The holiday should preach not only natural conservation but also appreciation. We live in a beautiful world, and UM students have the opportunity to love and help the environment around us.

Let’s be blunt about this: nature is amazing when consumed with family and friends. The best way to stay green is to make it a joint effort, passing around the enthusiasm with the people and the planet you love. On campus, there are many places that you and your friends can go to enjoy the natural beauty that the South Florida climate has to offer. Let’s get this rolling.

The John C. Gifford Arboretum is a dazzling area on campus. The cover of the trees provides a tranquil privacy of which even Henry David Thoreau would be jealous. When executed properly, a nighttime walk through the Arboretum with your friends can be the high point of any week. Thoreau himself said, “I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.” Take his advice. The Arboretum is the perfect place to take in the sweet aroma of the fresh grass, and maybe you’ll end up so refreshed that you’ll feel taller and higher than even the trees.

Lake Osceola rivals the Arboretum in its beauty. The campus lake is at its best after dusk, when the fountain is turned off and the cool Miami night descends. Feel free to drag a chair from outside of Hecht to the edge of the lake and take in the calm of the water. As campus gets quieter and the foot traffic slows, you can sit and marvel at the crystal clear reflection of the SAC. Every once in a while a fish will flop or a duck will waddle around, and you will feel in sync with the thriving campus wildlife. This process is always more meaningful with some quality buds. And if the on-campus nature loving gets you hungry, Outtakes is thankfully open 24/7 these days.

Years from now, you will no longer be able to experience the nature that South Florida has to offer. You don’t want to have an ounce or a half-ounce or a gram of regret. This Earth Day, or “Four-Twenty-Two,” should serve as a reminder that the Earth is beautiful, worthy of both conservation and enjoyment. So go outside to experience nature, it will be much more worthwhile than spending the evening in a freshman dorm or a hot car.

 

Editorials represent the majority view of The Miami Hurricane editorial board.