Photo courtesy of Keith McHenry Keith McHenry, organizer of the charitable group "Food Not Bombs," is a featured artist this Earth Day. His art will be part of a Sonoran Desert exhibit at Epic Cafe, 745 N. Fourth Ave.

More than 10 years ago, Earth Day was celebrated at the UA by dumping mounds of trash on the UA Mall.

Now, Earth Day at the University of Arizona has grown to promote environmental awareness through the incorporation of 40 local organizations participating in a fun- and information-filled day of demonstrations and displays.

"In some of the earlier Earth Days we did things like 'Trash on the Mall' to give the campus an idea of why they would need to recycle," said Alana Levine, special projects coordinator of Recycling and Waste Management. "We would fence off a huge area and have the custodians take a day's worth of trash or white paper and dump it on the Mall.

"This huge mound of bagged trash would give a visual to the campus - people would walk by and realize how much trash really is thrown away on campus or how much white paper could be recycled," Levine said.

While this method of promoting Earth Day may have been effective in heightening students' awareness of environmental issues such as recycling, today UA incorporates a broader array of issues with a more direct approach.

"We like to keep our Earth Day very hands-on, very educational, very grassroots, so that people can actually participate," Levine said.

Representatives from the Providence Institute, 1126 N. Jones Blvd., are participating in today's events, encouraging this hands-on approach to environmental awareness.

Providence Institute manager Teena Neal said Institute students and professionals are on campus today giving free massages and yoga demonstrations.

Although this may not strike the average environmentalist as an active approach to promoting environmental awareness, Neal said yoga and massage aid in encouraging an environmentally stimulated mentality.

"I think (yoga) leads to more reflection and a calmer state of being, which encourages you to live in harmony with the Earth," Neal said. "Massage as well - being touched and nurtured and cared for - makes you want to care for other things, including the Earth."

Also represented in today's UA Earth Day is the Center for Biological Diversity, a group concerned mainly with saving endangered species.

Sonya Diehn, office manager of the Center for Biological Diversity, said that while saving endangered species is one of her major environmental concerns, she does not limit herself to advocating only this.

"Whatever you want to call it - web of life, circle of life, biological diversity - we rely on nature to survive and we're a part of nature. I think we need to start changing our society to recognize that, and we need to start thinking about ways of living that aren't so orientated towards consumption," Diehn said.

Diehn is also speaking tonight at 7 to open a month-long Earth Day Art Show at Epic Cafe, 745 N. Fourth Ave.

"I'm going to be speaking about what makes the Sonoran Desert unique, what some of the threats to the Sonoran region are and how people can work to protect (it)," Diehn said.

The art exhibit includes work by artists Keith McHenry and Marion MacDonald. McHenry is also the founder of "Food Not Bombs," an organization active in promoting government spending on food rather than weapons.

"We will have paintings and photographs and a lecture," McHenry said about tonight's show. "We'll be talking about the significance of the Sonoran Desert and its fragile ecosystem."

To some, Earth Day increases awareness not available through traditional college curriculum.

"School is not everything - you need to think about the big picture, that Mother Earth nurtures us, and to try to be a part of that as much as you can, (or) at least a day," veterinary science senior Alesha Williams said.

The Earth Day 2002 celebration happens today on the UA Mall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information call 624-3068.