RORY MACLEAN
News Editor
Mixing music with a message, the Environmental Studies Students’ Association is holding its 4th annual Ecobash on Nov. 17.
ESSA, an interdisciplinary campus group comprising students interested in environmental issues, is raising money for Rooted.
Rooted is a campus based group of gardener-activists attempting to seed the expansion of rooftop gardens in Saskatoon. Rooted operated a garden on the patio of Louis’ Pub this summer and on the roof of the Pinnacle Building, near Nutana Collegiate.
Most of the food grown by Rooted, including tomatoes, herbs, eggplant, Swiss chard and zucchini, was donated to the Child Hunger and Education Program and Interval House, a temporary shelter for women and their children who require emergency accommodation.
A mixture of community building and food production, Rooted seeks to reclaim the urban landscape. Their innovative watering system allows plants to be grown with only half the water normally required by storing water in reservoirs installed beneath the soil of their planters, preventing evaporation from the sun-baked topsoil.
Last year, ESSA’s Ecobash managed to raise over $1,800 for Footprint Design, a group of engineering students dedicated to sustainable design.
“This year our money is going towards Rooted,” said Stacey Dumanski, events coordinator for Ecobash.
“They want to start more rooftop gardens on campus…. We’re hoping that with this money they can expand the Louis’ location. They’re also looking into starting one on top of the law building.”
The event will feature the bands My Constant, Arms Up, Foam Lake and the Warbrides. A number of environmental companies, such as the Sask. Waste Reduction Council and groups like Rooted and Footprint Design will have information booths to start the night off with an eco-fair.
Ecobash gives students an opportunity to “have a big party and hopefully raise quite a bit of money,” said Dumanski.
ESSA hopes to have even more money to donate this year.
“This year we have some more funding available to us, so our costs have decreased greatly,” said she. The University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union offered to cover the $700 cost of renting Louis’ Pub.
To read more about Rooted and its interesting gardening techniques, CLICK HERE and get hip.
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photo Raisa Pezderic
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