Cupertino’s third annual Earth Day celebration to honor Mother Earth brought together local, solution-based environmental organizations on April 21, including De Anza College’s Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies. 

Environmental Studies academic planning mentor, Wendy Lao, 25, said she was participating to let people know about the variety of classes offered at the center, with transferrable courses in energy management, environmental stewardship, biodiversity and pollution prevention.

Said Foothill College student Ashley Michaels, 22, studying to be a veterinary technician, “I came down here because it’s Earth Day and we live down the street. We didn’t get a chance last year.”

Political science major at De Anza College, Ali Masood, 21, sat at the TransForm California to advocate for bus rapid transit (BRT) as a way to help students cut down their expenses. 

“It will save students money by providing viable, cheap, reliable, comfortable and a stress-free commute. And it would have Wi-Fi,” he said.

BRT is a partnership between the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and the non-profit TransForm California. They are planning to upgrade the public transport service along the Stevens Creek Boulevard and San Carlos Street corridor. 

Described as a “light rail on rubber tires,” BRT will provide fast transit service every five to 10 minutes, and reduce commute times between Cupertino and San Jose by about one-half, allowing more people to take advantage of public transportation. 

Erin Cooke, Cupertino’s sustainability coordinator, spearheaded the event. She considers it “a great model of success [because] people are leaving with passionate, new ideas that they hadn’t thought of before, which is a great model of success,” Cooke said. 

Cooke explained that each vendor closely followed the city’s “green policy” which laid out the type of materials to be used for distributing food, such as compostable containers, and ensuring that people use the right receptacles for recycling, trash and compost. 

We Sushi vendor, Tomas Wu, 34, confirmed that their restaurant follows the city’s green policy in that they use compostable take-out containers. All the food service trucks, however, ran on gasoline generators during the event, which Cooke acknowledged as something to be improved upon. At the event, city council member Rod Sinks participated in the city’s proclamation to acknowledge Arbor Day in Cupertino, which the city hopes will encourage tree planting and limit the removal of trees. Sinks touted the city’s investment in electric vehicles, pointing to its two electric charging stations located on Rodrigues Avenue across from City Hall.  

Other local organizations at the event included ELV Motors, which specializes in electric bicycles, the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority, Community Support Agriculture, and others.

TAKE ME – Wendy Lao, 25, informs event attendees about Kirsch Center’s classes on Environmental Studies. (LEILA FOROUHI | La Voz Weekly)