The University of Washington is recognizing Earth Day 2021 with events, resources and activities hosted by many different deparments, student organizations and other groups. Earth Day is April 22, but opportunities are happening throughout the month of April.
April 14
Gardening at home: a tri-campus event
12:30 p.m. (Zoom)
Join gardeners from UW Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma to learn about sustainable gardening at home! We will have a brief presentation followed by a fabulous Q&A session.
Sustaining Our World lecture: “Lessons from Plants: Insight for Human Thriving”
5 p.m. (Register for livestream)
Dr. Beronda L. Montgomery, a writer, science communicator and Michigan State University Foundation Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, is the speaker for this year's Sustaining Our World lecture sponsored by the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and PR2ISM at UW.
Careers with Impact: Sustainability and Tackling the Climate Crisis
4 p.m. (Handshake)
Are you interested in working for an organization focused on fighting climate change? What about careers that seek to increase our energy efficiency or sustainability as a society? If so, join us for a conversation with UW alumni who have spent their years post-grad pursuing careers that are tackling the climate crisis. This will be a moderated panel to start and then move into an open Q&A with the audience, so come ready with questions! This panel will likely not be recorded and is only available live.
April 15
Sustainability Stories: Studying waste sorting at UW & Ditching the diapers for environmental justice
11 a.m. (Zoom)
Join us for two presentations about waste reduction. UW Recycling will dig into the University's waste sorting habits. Learn what a waste audit found at UW, and how we have addressed the findings. This will be followed by "Ditching the Diapers for Environmental Justice." Anthropological inquiry and quantitative surveys of diapering practices across subcultures in Seattle informed this grant-funded project, which has introduced more than 300 families to elimination communication and potty training methods that reduce waste, reduce costs for struggling families, and lighten our impact on the environment. What you don't know about diapers will shock you!
April 19
Heating up: The ethics of climate change
In this presentation, ethicist Brian G. Henning discusses how global warming itself is not the only problem—it’s a symptom of a larger issue concerning how we conceive of ourselves and our relationship to the natural world. This Earth Week event is sponsored by Humanities Washington and Cascadia College's Global Education Committee, as part of UW Bothell's Earth Week.
April 21
Climate dialog: Food sustainability
1 - 3 p.m. (Registration required)
Sustainable Food Systems talk on climate change, and the effects in our state. Join experts on climate change and food in the area, to discuss climate change, food choice, and sustainable agriculture. Hosted by UW Bothell.
Sustainable Crafting: Crotchet with Plarn (Plastic Yarn)
5:45 p.m. (RSVP for link)
Join The Whole U for this crafting session. Learn how to make yarn out of plastic bags, and how to crochet in the round and use the "plarn" to make a reusable can koozie to keep your drinks cold and your hands warm. Click the registration link for more information and the materials you'll need.
April 22 (EARTH DAY)
Green Eating: Tips for Sustainably Buying, Growing and Cooking Our Food
12 p.m. (RSVP for link)
Sustainable eating is about choosing foods that are healthful for our bodies and our environment. In agriculture, sustainability refers to the production of plant and animal products (foods) using farming techniques and practices that help to conserve natural resources with minimal impact on the environment. Sustainable agriculture enables us to produce healthful food without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same.
The Whole U is hosting this workshop with Kristine Carlson (MS, RD, CD, CNSC), a registered Clinical Dietitian at UWMC. Explore some of the clean and green ways in which we can sustainability shop for, grow and cook our foods in urban environments!
Going digital - online records management training
11 a.m. (Zoom: UW NetID required)
Join Records Management for an online training about managing records in your office. This session, hosted by UW Bothell campus, will include an overview of records management at the University and the resources available to all of you as we move to fully digital offices. In 2020, Records Management created new resources to support the initiative Fetch the Future – Rethink the Ink. The initiative came about because over the past few years, it has become clear that the UW is on a fast track to going digital. With Workday and other central systems, with online forms, with e-signatures – more and more records that were traditionally on paper are now being created and received electronically. We will tell you all about these resources and answer any questions you may have about maintaining your records.
UW Seattle sustainability trivia (with a twist!)
12 p.m. (Zoom: UW NetID required)
This Earth Day, watch UW faculty and staff answer sustainability questions, with a twist: Wrong answers get a pie in the face! Faculty Kristi Straus of Environmental Studies and Rebecca Neumann of Civil & Environmental Engineering are joined by UW Sustainability Director Claudia Frere-Anderson to take on the challenge. This event is a fundraiser for the UW Campus Food Pantry. We'll be competing with UW Tacoma's event to see who can raise more! Donate to the UW Food Pantry here.
UW Tacoma sustainability trivia (with a twist!)
12:30 p.m. (Zoom: UW NetID required)
See some brave UWT professors get a pie in the face for UW Tacoma's Pantry! UW Tacoma students ask the profs questions about sustainability: if they get it right, nothing happens; if they get it wrong, they get a pie in the face. Repeatedly. Each pie = a donation to The Pantry. This event is part of a challenge between the Tacoma and Seattle campuses to raise money for the respective pantries.
Screening and discussion of "Fantastic Fungi"
6 p.m. (Registration required)
UW Tacoma is hosting this screening of the award-winning film "Fantastic Fungi" for all UW faculty, staff and students. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with fungi experts Erica Cline, UW Tacoma associate professor, and Renee Davis, Fungi Perfecti director of research/development.
April 19-25
"Kiss the Ground" screening
Join the UW Future Rivers program for a free screening of the film Kiss the Ground, which discusses solutions to balancing our climate, replenishing our freshwater supplies and feeding the world. Register for a link to watch the movie at your convenience anytime during Earth Week, April 19-25.