Earth Week schedule of events
Dautremont-Smith, Julian
Hello Green Team,
Once again, there are some great events happening over the next couple of weeks in celebration of Earth Day (April 22)! I’m pleased to share the full schedule below (also online at http://www.alfredstate.edu/sustainability/events). If one of more of the events related to material in your courses, please consider offering extra credit to students who participate. I hope to see many of you at these events too!
Thanks!
Julian
Community Garden "Spring Cleaning" service event
Thursday, April 17
3-5; meet outside the Organizational Suites, SLC Second Floor
Help the Alfred Community Garden get ready for the planting season! The Alfred Community Garden provides hands-on education in sustainable agriculture to students, faculty, staff, and community members and enables local production of healthy and affordable foods, thereby contributing to community food security. This event will focus on preparing the garden area for planting and generally cleaning up the space. Tools will be provided, but please wear clothes and shoes that can get dirty.
Alfred State Campus Clean Up
Monday, April 21
5pm; meet in front of Orvis
Help the Sustainability Club make the Alfred State campus look nice for spring. The college will provide materials. Wear clothing that can get dirty.
Local foods showcase lunch
Tuesday, April 22
11am-2pm; Central Dining Hall
Alfred State’s Auxiliary Campus Enterprises and Services, Inc. (ACES) is celebrating Earth Day by showcasing locally produced foods during lunch.
Showing of “A Community of Gardeners”
Tuesday, April 22
12-5, Student Leadership Center 310
The Alfred Community Garden is showing “A Community of Gardeners” on a loop throughout the day. Stop by to learn about how urban community gardens in Washington DC are serving as sources of fresh, nutritious food; outdoor classrooms; places of healing; links to immigrants’ native countries; centers of social interaction; and oases of beauty and calm in inner-city neighborhoods. The film also looks back on the history of community gardens in the United States.
Creek Clean Up
Tuesday, April 22
4-5pm; footbridge behind Community Bank on Main Street
Join Alfred State’s Outdoor Recreation Club to clean up the small creek that goes through Alfred. Wear waterproof boots and clothes that are okay to get dirty.
Screening of Tapped
Tuesday, April 22
6:30pm; Engineering Technology Building 215
Watch this award-winning documentary about the bottled water industry. Tapped follows the lifecycle of bottled water from the production of the water bottles to the ocean where so many end up. Along the way, it offers a portrait of the lives affected by the bottled water industry and explores issues related to the privatization of water.
Sustainable Communities and Corporate Power: We Can’t Have Both
Wednesday, April 23
4:30-5:45pm; Alfred Village Hall
Join a community conversation about the ways and whys of corporate authority in this country and beyond. Participants will discuss examples of news stories that reveal the legal power corporations wield over people and communities when it comes to defining everything under the sun: energy production, economic life, electoral processes, natural environments, pharmaceuticals and public health, transportation systems, agriculture and food production, Wall St. financial arrangements, etc., etc. Why is it that thousands of activist organizations and community groups have had so little success despite forty years of diligent effort? Why should we care? What’s to be done? How do we do it? Let’s talk about these matters, find out what’s happening out there, and consider mutual learning and organizing in our own community.
Bean Hill farm presentation/information session
Wednesday, April 23
6:30, upstairs at the Terra Cotta
Bean Hill farm is located on a sunny slope of Groveland hill, looking south over the upper Geneseo river valley, and into the southern hills of the Alleghenies. Farming in accordance with the biodynamic principles of Rudolf Steiner, their vision as young farmers is to create a place that is deeply rooted in the history of the land as well as open to the innovations of the future. This year marks the beginning of their transition to horsepower as they welcome a team of Percheron mares to their farm. They are also preparing pastureland and other infrastructure in planning for pigs, ducks, chickens, sheep, and other future livestock. With an eclectic CSA program, several local farmer market stands and partnerships with other local businesses, they strive to find new and more efficient ways of farming and living.
What if it Happens Here? Our Journey to Dimock
Thursday, April 24rd
5-6:15pm, upstairs at the Terra Cotta
This presentation with photos describes a tour of the Dimock area made by three local people who have been actively involved in promoting awareness regarding the impact of gas and oil drilling utilizing hydraulic fracturing process on our planet and on us.
Hot Dog Day Fair
Saturday, April 26
Noon-5pm, Main Street in Alfred
A variety of strategies are being employed to make this year’s Hot Dog Day a greener event. Deposits from bottles and cans recycled at Hot Dog Day will be donated to charity.
Hot Dog Day Clean-up
Sunday, April 27
10am, Meet in the parking lot behind Community Bank
Help clean up any litter left over from Hot Dog Day. Alfred State will provide materials. Wear clothing that can get dirty.
Cleanup at Pollywogg Holler Eco-Resort
Sunday, April 27
10am-1pm; 6240 South Rd. Belmont, NY 14813
Do some spring cleaning around the Pollywogg Holler property to earn a free brick oven pizza! Tasks will include cleaning up downed trees and branches, trail maintenance, debris removal, freshening up gardens and more. Please dress in layers according to the weather and wear boots and work gloves. Kids welcome!
Wind Turbine Dedication Ceremony
Friday, May 2
2-3:30; Student Leadership Center 310
Alfred State will celebrate its new 100 kW wind turbine. The turbine, which is located on hill behind the main campus, is expected to produce enough electricity each year to power 18 average NY homes. The event will include remarks from leaders involved with the project followed by a trip up to the base of the turbine.
A Day to Get Dirty: AU Community Garden
Sunday, May 4
10 am to 2 pm; Environmental Studies House, 16 Park St.
Participants will help re-tarp the greenhouse, install and plant in garden beds, create new composting units and give tours. Potted plants can be taken home and refreshments will be provided.
--
Julian Dautremont-Smith
Chief Sustainability Officer
Office of the President
Alfred State College