Ballot initiatives, reptiles, demonstrations, a solar car and a traveling film festival are just some of the things packing the UA Mall today for UA Earth Day 2004.

Sponsored by UA Recycling and Waste Management and the Arizona Student Recycling Association, more than 40 organizations are participating in the annual event that aims to make students more environmentally conscious.

"Earth Day is important because we are all involved in the environment," said Alana Levine, program coordinator for Recycling and Waste Management. "It is better to be aware of what is going on. This event is proactive and hands-on, allowing people to get involved rather than people just saying ÎHurray for the Earth!'"

UA Earth Day is the largest, noncorporate-sponsored college Earth Day in the nation, Levine said.

Having corporate sponsorship would "go against the feel of what Earth Day was started for," Levine said.

Raytheon Missile Systems sponsored Tucson's Earth Day, which was celebrated Saturday.

The UA Arboretum will give a campus nature walk at 11 a.m. leaving from the Memorial Fountain, outside Old Main. The Dionysus Film Festival will show "socially and environmentally conscious" films inside a tent until 4 p.m.

The first Earth Day was celebrated April 22, 1970, by millions of Americans across the country. Conceived and founded by Sen. Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day is intended to raise awareness of environmental degradation.

UA Earth Day will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the UA Mall.