Earth Week Starts Tomorrow!

Hello, everyone!  Sorry I've been away from this blog for so long.  It's been a very busy semester, but I hope to talk about some more sustainability issues, initiatives, and events before the semester's over!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Earth Days 2013, a series of events and activities designed by the Sustainability Advisory Committee to promote awareness of environmental issues and environmental activism on campus.  The following is a rundown of the events that will take place during the Earth Days celebration:

My recycled (cardboard) pen.  Stylish and sustainable!

Sunday, April 21st
The Committee will be screening the documentary Carbon Nation (2010) in Neidig-Garber 203 at 3 p.m.  In this film, director Peter Byck and narrator Bill Kurtis choose to focus more on sustainable solutions to reducing the world's carbon footprint than on detailing the problems of use fossil fuels.  The film offers an optimistic but balanced view of fulfilling the world's energy needs.  The Committee will also give the first 20 attendees a free recycled pen.  Mine's on the right.

Monday, April 22nd (Earth Day)
During lunch hours (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) in front of the cafeteria, Committee members will be hosting a Sustainability Trivia Prize Wheel, where students can answer questions about sustainability initiatives at LVC for the chance to win recycled pens, frisbees, t-shirts, and reusable bags, all with the Sustainability logo printed on them.  At the same time, they will also have a recycling display designed to help students find out what's recyclable and what's not and how to manage their recyclables.

At 7 p.m. in Chapel 101, John Dernbach, former policy director at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and current Distinguished Professor at Law at Widener University, will give his speech, "Acting as if Tomorrow Matters: Accelerating the Transition to Sustainability," about the ways law and public opinion and policy can better enable the U.S.'s transition to sustainability.  The Committee will also give the first 20 attendees a Frisbee with the sustainability logo printed on it. 

Before Dernbach's talk, the Sustainability Advisory Committee will announce the winner of the "Greening the Campus" contest, where students submitted proposals for ways to make LVC more sustainable.  The winner will receive an iPad mini.

Tuesday, April 23rd 
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Committee members will be stationed on the Lynch driveway to recycle electronic devices students bring.

At 11 a.m. in Neidig-Garber 203, Dr. Moe, chair and Vernon and Doris Bishop Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, will give a speech about global warming and greenhouse gases.

At 6 p.m. in Chapel 101, Dr. Schroeder, assistant professor of history, will give his speech, "Rivers of Garbage: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the Great Atlantic Garbage Patch, and the Lesser Quittapahilla and Swatara Creek Garbage Streams," followed by a tour of the Quittapahilla Creek Garbage Museum with its executive director and a fireside chat about the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Wednesday, April 24th
During the Sustainable Lunch Hour (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), Metz will host sustainable vendors to offer samples of their wares and information about sustainability to the college community, and serve nearly 90 percent locally grown and sustainable food products on the menu.  Metz will also gather food waste throughout the week, measure the amount of food waste we produce, and post the results at a later time.  Can you believe that last spring semester, food waste cost the college nearly $47,000?

It certainly sounds like it's going to be an interesting four days.  Did you go to any events, and if so, what did you learn about sustainability?