Environmental Movement

On April 20, 1970, KU students joined 20 million Americans across the country to celebrate the first Earth Day. It was the start of the environmental movement, and KU hosted an impressive array of “Earth Week” panels, lectures, and activities. Campus activism did not stop there. The most well documented example of KU students’ environmental activism is the Whomper. Named for the sound it made when crushing cans and bottles, the Whomper was the centerpiece of the University’s Reclamation Center. A nonprofit entity that recycled aluminum, tin cans, glass, bottles, and newspapers for the entire Lawrence community, it was started by a group of KU students in January 1971.