When Peter Jenkins graduated from college, he decided to spend five months walking across the United States.
Five years and several jobs later, Jenkins finished his travels and wrote a book about his adventures that ended up on the New York Times best-seller list.
Jenkins is the keynote speaker for Earth Week, Monday through April 22, sponsored by the Natural Resources Club.
Jenkins will speak at 7 p.m. Monday at the Student Center Ballroom.
Jenkins said that he decided to explore America because he wanted to discover the country for himself.
"I'm from New York City, so I thought the whole country was like New York City, which was really depressing," Jenkins said.
Jenkins said that most people only experience a small part of America, so he hopes to show the diversity of the country through stories.
Jenkins has also spent a year and half on the Gulf Coast and another year and a half in Alaska, and has written seven books about his adventures.
The theme of the week is "One Earth, One People: Raising global citizenship today for a better tomorrow."
"We really want to educate the campus on sustainability issues," said Chelsea Cohen, NRC treasurer and coordinator of the week.
Cohen said she thinks the university needs to work on recycling and conserving energy.
Cohen said conserving paper would help decrease costs.
Student involvement is another focus of the week.
"We would like more student involvement in the Muncie community," Cohen said. "We're separated from them and need to make a connection."
Jenkins also stressed the importance of society.
Some environmentalists focus so much on the earth that they exclude humans, when they should be embracing them as a part of nature, Jenkins said.
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