Undergraduate
Saint Michael's stages save-the-Earth events for Earth Week 2009
April 15-23
Contact Information:
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
Spear-headed by students and faculty in the Saint Michael's College Environmental Council, and orchestrated by Sustainability Coordinator Heather Ellis, Saint Michael's is staging events during the week of April 15 to 23 to educate and to emphasize the need to protect the environment on planet Earth. The public is invited to attend the events, which are as follows:
-----------------------------------
WEDNESDAY, April 15
12:00 p.m. - Guest talk on Climate Change
Location: Alliot Student Center, Vermont Room (second floor)
Author Amy Seidle will speak about her book Early Spring: An Ecologist and her Children Wake to a Warming World. Seidl looks at climate change through family walks in the woods, work in her garden, and seasonal events throughout the year, bringing home the message of global warming by showing how it has altered life in her Vermont town. Her book received a starred review in Library Journal.
7:30 p.m. - Radical Stimulus: Cycling for a Sustainable Future
Location: Hoehl Welcome Center
Jim Merkel, author of Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth, and his fellow cyclers, Ross Scatchard, SMC assistant cross-country ski coach; Susan Cutting of the Student Conservation Association; S. Tyler Durham of D Acres Farm, will speak about their 350-mile bicycle trip to broadcast the message of leading climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen: "If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted,CO2 will need to be reduced." They will offer easy steps to make a difference right away!
-----------------------------------
SATURDAY, April 18
12:00 p.m. - Group bike ride to the last Burlington indoor farmer's market.
9:00 p.m. - Turtle Underground and Tent City
An acoustic open-mike concert on the library lawn will be followed by participants spending the night in tents on the lawn; $5 per tent (Tthe money will go towards raising money for the MOVE International Service Trip to India.)
-----------------------------------
SUNDAY, April 19
12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Earth Week Kickoff Celebration.
Location: Campus Green: Durick Library Lawn
Food, music, and speakers. All music powered by the energy of the Solar Bus (www.solarbus.org). Also a tie-dye station, a flower pot painting and planting station, a clothing swap and a trash-on-the lawn demonstration. Featured Musical Artist: Alex Schein (www.alexschein.com). Other Musical Artists: The Peace (from North Hampton, MA) and Saint Michael's College bands. Gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina will speak at 2:00 p.m.
-----------------------------------
MONDAY, April 20
1:00 p.m. - At the Mike radio show WWPV 88.7 FM
Host Garret Sullivan will interview film maker Ian Connacher, creator of Addicted to Plastic. For more than 10 years, Ian Connacher has been documenting solutions to environmental issues. He has written for Shift, Canadian Geographic and The Globe and Mai, and co-founded Earth Change Productions, which distributed a documentary on climate change solutions to schools and libraries in 2000.
6:30 p.m. - Showing of the film, Addicted to Plastic
Location: Cheray Science Building, Rm. 101
This feature-length documentary is about solutions to plastic pollution, that took three years of filming in 12 countries on five continents, including two trips to the middle of the Pacific Ocean where plastic debris accumulates. The film details plastic's path over the last 100 years and provides expert interviews on practical and cutting edge solutions to recycling, toxicity and biodegradability. The film provides a hopeful perspective about our future with plastic.http://www.crypticmoth.com/plastic.php
-----------------------------------
TUESDAY, April 21
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. - Saint Michael's College 1st Green Career Fair
Location: Alliot Student Center, Main lobby
Sponsored by the Office of Sustainability and the Student Resource Center. The Green Career Fair will help students become more aware of green career opportunities. Vermont organizations at the fair include:
- Intervale Compost
- NRG Systems, Inc
- Chittenden Solid Waste District
- Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
- Earth Turbines
- Vermont Energy Investment Corporation/ Efficiency Vermont
- Shelburne Farms
- NativeEnergy
- Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club
- Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility
- Green Mountain Club
4:00 p.m. - Ben & Jerry's free cone day; group bike ride.
7:30 p.m. - Student documentary film showing: Giving Up Plastics
-----------------------------------
WEDNESDAY, April 22 EARTH DAY!
TBD - Campus Ministry-sponsored prayer service
Reflections on Catholic teachings on environmental conservation
4:00 p.m. - Outdoor Volunteer Efforts Sponsored cleanup from Main to North Campus
7:30 p.m. - Student documentary film showing - Local Food
-----------------------------------
THURSDAY, April 23
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. - Contra Dance!
Experienced and beginner dancers welcome. Be a part of this classic New England Tradition in the International Commons.
-----------------------------------
WEEK-LONG ACTIVITIES
Car abstinance pledge: Participants will give up their car keys (to be held at the Switchboard office in case of emergencies) and promise not to drive for all of Earth Week. In return, they will be entered in a raffle of great prizes from local businesses.
Recycled art contest: Participants will be challenged to create an artistic sculpture from only recycled materials. Glue is allowed, but other creative methods are encouraged. Voting will take place during Earth Week and there will be prizes for the winners.
-----------------------------------
Expert contact:
Heather J. Ellis, Saint Michael's College Sustainability Coordinator, 802.654.2733
http://www.smcvt.edu/sustainability/
-----------------------------------
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
Spear-headed by students and faculty in the Saint Michael's College Environmental Council, and orchestrated by Sustainability Coordinator Heather Ellis, Saint Michael's is staging events during the week of April 15 to 23 to educate and to emphasize the need to protect the environment on planet Earth. The public is invited to attend the events, which are as follows:
-----------------------------------
WEDNESDAY, April 15
12:00 p.m. - Guest talk on Climate Change
Location: Alliot Student Center, Vermont Room (second floor)
Author Amy Seidle will speak about her book Early Spring: An Ecologist and her Children Wake to a Warming World. Seidl looks at climate change through family walks in the woods, work in her garden, and seasonal events throughout the year, bringing home the message of global warming by showing how it has altered life in her Vermont town. Her book received a starred review in Library Journal.
7:30 p.m. - Radical Stimulus: Cycling for a Sustainable Future
Location: Hoehl Welcome Center
Jim Merkel, author of Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth, and his fellow cyclers, Ross Scatchard, SMC assistant cross-country ski coach; Susan Cutting of the Student Conservation Association; S. Tyler Durham of D Acres Farm, will speak about their 350-mile bicycle trip to broadcast the message of leading climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen: "If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted,CO2 will need to be reduced." They will offer easy steps to make a difference right away!
-----------------------------------
SATURDAY, April 18
12:00 p.m. - Group bike ride to the last Burlington indoor farmer's market.
9:00 p.m. - Turtle Underground and Tent City
An acoustic open-mike concert on the library lawn will be followed by participants spending the night in tents on the lawn; $5 per tent (Tthe money will go towards raising money for the MOVE International Service Trip to India.)
-----------------------------------
SUNDAY, April 19
12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Earth Week Kickoff Celebration.
Location: Campus Green: Durick Library Lawn
Food, music, and speakers. All music powered by the energy of the Solar Bus (www.solarbus.org). Also a tie-dye station, a flower pot painting and planting station, a clothing swap and a trash-on-the lawn demonstration. Featured Musical Artist: Alex Schein (www.alexschein.com). Other Musical Artists: The Peace (from North Hampton, MA) and Saint Michael's College bands. Gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina will speak at 2:00 p.m.
-----------------------------------
MONDAY, April 20
1:00 p.m. - At the Mike radio show WWPV 88.7 FM
Host Garret Sullivan will interview film maker Ian Connacher, creator of Addicted to Plastic. For more than 10 years, Ian Connacher has been documenting solutions to environmental issues. He has written for Shift, Canadian Geographic and The Globe and Mai, and co-founded Earth Change Productions, which distributed a documentary on climate change solutions to schools and libraries in 2000.
6:30 p.m. - Showing of the film, Addicted to Plastic
Location: Cheray Science Building, Rm. 101
This feature-length documentary is about solutions to plastic pollution, that took three years of filming in 12 countries on five continents, including two trips to the middle of the Pacific Ocean where plastic debris accumulates. The film details plastic's path over the last 100 years and provides expert interviews on practical and cutting edge solutions to recycling, toxicity and biodegradability. The film provides a hopeful perspective about our future with plastic.http://www.crypticmoth.com/plastic.php
-----------------------------------
TUESDAY, April 21
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. - Saint Michael's College 1st Green Career Fair
Location: Alliot Student Center, Main lobby
Sponsored by the Office of Sustainability and the Student Resource Center. The Green Career Fair will help students become more aware of green career opportunities. Vermont organizations at the fair include:
- Intervale Compost
- NRG Systems, Inc
- Chittenden Solid Waste District
- Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
- Earth Turbines
- Vermont Energy Investment Corporation/ Efficiency Vermont
- Shelburne Farms
- NativeEnergy
- Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club
- Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility
- Green Mountain Club
4:00 p.m. - Ben & Jerry's free cone day; group bike ride.
7:30 p.m. - Student documentary film showing: Giving Up Plastics
-----------------------------------
WEDNESDAY, April 22 EARTH DAY!
TBD - Campus Ministry-sponsored prayer service
Reflections on Catholic teachings on environmental conservation
4:00 p.m. - Outdoor Volunteer Efforts Sponsored cleanup from Main to North Campus
7:30 p.m. - Student documentary film showing - Local Food
-----------------------------------
THURSDAY, April 23
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. - Contra Dance!
Experienced and beginner dancers welcome. Be a part of this classic New England Tradition in the International Commons.
-----------------------------------
WEEK-LONG ACTIVITIES
Car abstinance pledge: Participants will give up their car keys (to be held at the Switchboard office in case of emergencies) and promise not to drive for all of Earth Week. In return, they will be entered in a raffle of great prizes from local businesses.
Recycled art contest: Participants will be challenged to create an artistic sculpture from only recycled materials. Glue is allowed, but other creative methods are encouraged. Voting will take place during Earth Week and there will be prizes for the winners.
-----------------------------------
Expert contact:
Heather J. Ellis, Saint Michael's College Sustainability Coordinator, 802.654.2733
http://www.smcvt.edu/sustainability/
-----------------------------------
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
