Earth Day Arrives

Boston University is too big to celebrate Earth Day for just 24 hours. Starting April 21, students, faculty, and staff across campus will participate in BU’s Earth Week, showcasing the University’s efforts to be more green and offering ways to eat healthy, recycle, and promote an Earth-friendly lifestyle all year round.

All week, Dining Services will serve fair-trade honey and sugar in dining halls and fair-trade bananas in the George Sherman Union food court. Low-carbon stations, demonstrating how food choices affect the environment, will be set up in each dining hall; new sustainability boards, with information about recycling, local food, and special green promotions, will remain in the dining halls permanently. On Wednesday — Earth Day — all dining halls will feature a menu of all-local foods.

Wednesday, April 22

Earth Day Celebration, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Marsh Plaza
The Organic Gardening Collective, Slow Food BU, the Environmental Student Organization, the Boston Vegetarian Society, the BU Vegetarian Society, Save That Stuff, and the Student Recycling Coordinators. Stop by for a gardening demonstration, an organic salad, a free recycling bag, or to taste-test bottled water versus filtered tap water.

Earth Day Worship, 11 a.m., Marsh Chapel
Worship led by John Hart, a professor of Christian ethics at the School of Theology.

School of Theology Community Lunch, noon, Oxnam Room, School of Theology
Featuring fair-trade and organic food. During lunch, two international students will share stories of communities outside the United States working to create a more sustainable future.

Tree Blessing, 1 p.m., behind Marsh Chapel
John Hart will play the Native American flute and Oglala Lakota leader William Means will lead participants in a blessing.

Earth Day Sabbath Space, 3-6 p.m., East Terrace, GSU
Create works of art in a peaceful environment in honor of the Earth. Led by STH doctoral student Susan Forshey.

Keynote Address, 7 p.m., Conference Auditorium, George Sherman Union
Oglala Lakota leader William Means is a lifelong activist in the areas of environmental protection, human rights, and self-determination for indigenous peoples. He is recognized as an expert on Indian treaties by the United Nations and is a cofounder and the current president of the board of the International Indian Treaty Council, the first indigenous organization to attain NGO status at the United Nations.

Respondent Rebecca Johnson is a poet, essayist, playwright, and community activist. She is the executive director of Cooperative Economics for Women and the recipient of a 1998 Boston Neighborhood Fellows award. Her written works include a manuscript of poems, Urban/Ecology, a radio play, Urban Dreams, numerous published essays, and the creative nonfiction essay New Moon Over Roxbury, which appeared in Ecofeminism and the Sacred. She lives and works in Dorchester, Mass.

A reception will be held before the keynote address, at 6 p.m., at the GSU Back Court.

Thursday, April 23

Panel (and Pizza) — Religion and Ecology: Learning from the Local Community, 5:30-7 p.m., Room B-12, College of Arts & Sciences
Hear how local organizations are working for a sustainable future. STH Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore moderates a panel with participants from the Boston Faith and Justice Network, the Sustainability Institute, Artists for Humanity, and Groundwork Somerville, who share stories of their work and how you can get involved. All events are free and open to the public.

Friday, April 24

Sustainability Panel, 5 p.m., Sargent College, Room 102
Douglas Zook, director of the Microcosmos Project and a School of Education associate professor of education, will talk about SEDgreen. Kelly Dunn, Dining Services sustainability coordinator, will talk about Dining Services. Cutler Cleveland, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of geography and environment, will talk about the Boston University Sustainability Committee. Michael Gevelber, a College of Engineering professor of mechanical engineering, will talk about the ENG class that examines utility data on campus and determines ways to reduce consumption. CAS student Elizabeth Lacy will speak about BU Facilities’ energy efficiency projects.