UC San Diego Kicks Off Earth Week Celebration

Christine Clark | April 18, 2011

Last year's Earth Week celebrations included sustainable food tastings.

Members of the UC San Diego community will be urged to own their impact on Planet Earth during Earth Week this week. The weeklong celebration includes workshops, film screenings, an e-waste collection drive and a sustainability awards ceremony.

Earth Week kicked off Saturday with Green Open House: A Living Laboratory. The event offered free fun for the entire family, including a car show, entertainment, landscape exhibits, cooking demos, health screenings and much more.

Here is a list of upcoming Earth Week events:

• Walk the Talk – Own Your Impact Resource Fair, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., April 18, Library Walk:  Students will get information about UC San Diego sustainability from organizations including Aquaholics, the Sustainability Resource Center, the Student Sustainability Collective, Engineers without Borders and more.
• E-Waste Collection, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., April 18 - 20, Parking Lot P 705:  Everybody is encouraged to bring old computers, stereos and cell phones so they can be reused, refurbished or recycled.
•  Screening of “The Greenhorns,” panel discussion and dinner, 6:30 p.m., April 19, The Loft: The documentary “The Greenhorns” chronicles and supports the new generation of young farmers in 21st century America. Following the film, there will be a panel discussion with Robin Taylor and Lucila de Alejandro of Suzie’s Farm, Jay Porter of The Linkery and others discussing locally grown produce and the need for agricultural reform. Also included is a dinner featuring fresh, local, and seasonal produce from Suzie’s Farm.
• Fair Trade Expo, 2 to 4 p.m., April 20, Price Center West Ballroom A: The public is invited to learn about new, local, organic, fair trade and sustainable products and options available to UC San Diego retail vendors and administration.
• Surf Wax Sculpture Contest, 6 p.m., April 20, Outback Surf Shop:  Students will create a sculpture from one bar of surf wax or wax scraped off their board to win a wetsuit or sandals that incorporate green materials.
• Mt. Trashmore, 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., April 20, Town Square: See how much trash the campus generates in one day when the waste hauler dumps tons of trash collected the previous day. Volunteers will dig through the trash at the end of the day to demonstrate how ordinary garbage contains recyclable items.
• ‘Leave No Trace’ Campsite Demo, overnight, April 20-21, green area adjacent to Library Walk: UC San Diego staff will spend the night in the campsite to demonstrate how to use the “Leave No Trace” camping principles to show how campers can have as little impact as possible on the location they’re visiting. Staff will provide information and answer questions.
• Tree Planting, April 21, 9 to 11 a.m., East side of Sixth College Apartments along Gilman Drive: Volunteers will help plant sycamore trees to celebrate Earth Week. Oxygen released by urban forests are one of America’s first lines of defense against adverse climate change.
  
  Click here for additional information and a full event listing of UC San Diego’s EarthWeek.