In celebration of Earth Day 2014, on April 22, the U.S. Embassy in Santiago organized a series of activities in Santiago and Talca.
Early morning, Embassy employees arrived to work on their bicycles as another group distributed to passersby 100 Quillay saplings and six boxes of apples. CONAF donated the trees, which will be planted in the homes of the enthusiastic participants. The apples were donated by fruit exporting company Rucaray, from its plant in Los Lirios in the O’Higgins Region.
At noon, Universidad de Talca held an Earth Day Run, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy’s American Academy of Science and Technology, to which the entire college community was invited.
In the afternoon, U.S. Ambassador Michael Hammer presented prizes to the high school students who won a comics contest organized by the Embassy to celebrate Earth Day. The contest consisted on completing the comic “Sam Spadebee,” adding one or two panels in English. The comic focuses on solving the scientific enigma as to why bees are disappearing from the world. First price was a Wifi Retina 16 GB Ipad and a collection of graphic novels in English from the series The Watchmen, Maus Vol. I and II, and Moby Dick. Second place was a Kindle Fire HD Tablet plus the graphic novel collection, and third place was the collection of novels.
The contest was to raise awareness among youths on the role that every organism plays in the ecosystem, in addition to promoting English learning. The U.S. Embassy in Santiago maintains a year-round recycling program.
