Earth Week to feature hands-on activities and events
Taking place April 21-27, Earth Week events include origami with bioplastics, birding, networking, a culinary session, and more.
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Lila Bhide harvests crops at Penn Farm, which is hosting a volunteer work day for Earth Week this year.
(Image: Kylie Cooper)
From creating bioplastic origami and birding to eating a meal with locally grown seasonal ingredients, there are plenty of ways for students, faculty, and staff to get involved in this year’s Earth Week, taking place from April 21 to 27. The theme this year is Our Power, Our Planet, mirroring the theme for the national Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22.
“The point is to find those activities that bring us all to the table and call us all into action,” says Nina Morris, director of the Penn Sustainability Office. “Earth Week is really about what you are doing and how you are acting toward building the future we want to see.”
The office put the power to come up with offerings that engage the Penn community in the hands of student clubs, academic departments, and other offices, says sustainability manager Noah Swistak. “That produces this really diverse, impressive collection of events for different ways people can engage and different things people can experience,” he says.
Swistak notes that some perennial favorites are returning: the GreenFest tabling festival at Penn Commons on Friday, April 25, from 1-4 p.m., and the Penn Vet Semi-Annual BioBlitz on Thursday, April 24, from 1-4 p.m. The latter, an opportunity to learn about biodiversity at Kaskey Park, is also an event for Take Our Children to Work Day.
Penn students and faculty organized Philadelphia’s first Earth Day event in 1970, and the momentum continues on campus this year with a few dozen cross-disciplinary events, most of which are open to all members of the Penn community. They include:
Monday, April 21, 10 a.m., online registration: Creating Canopy Priority Registration: Help grow the region’s tree canopy through Penn’s Creating Canopy program. Penn and University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) staff and faculty members who live in Philadelphia have priority registration to receive a free tree through this annual program. Registration is open for all Penn faculty and staff May 1 at 10 a.m.
Wednesday, April 23, 2-3 p.m., Austrian Auditorium in the Clinical Research Building, 415 Curie Blvd., and virtual: Staying Healthy in a Climate Changed World. UPHS CEO Kevin B. Mahoney; Kathleen Biggins, founder and president of C-Change Conversations; and Jay Lemery, co-director of the Climate & Health Program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, will talk about actions people can take to protect themselves and their families from the health risks of climate change.
Earth Week at Penn will include birdwatching again this year.
(Image: Carlos Cintron)
Wednesday, April 23, 6-7:30 p.m., Quaker Kitchen in Gutmann College House, 211 South 40th St.:Earth Week Culinary Session. Executive Chef Lucio Palazzo has developed a menu inspired by seasonal ingredients grown at Penn Farm. Penn Dining meal plan holders can join to eat delicious food and learn how climate issues factor into their food choices.
Friday, April 25, 4-5:30 p.m., Sweeten Alumni House, 3533 Locust Walk: Down to Earth: Networking for a Greener Future. Students interested in a career in sustainability can connect with Penn alumni working in fields ranging from renewable energy and environmental policy to sustainable design.
Wednesday, April 30, 1-4 p.m., Penn Farm, Penn Park near South Street: Volunteer @Penn Farm and Discover: Our Power, Our Planet. Help Penn Farm prepare for the growing season by assisting with tasks that may include watering, weeding, bed building, shoveling, raking, harvesting, or planting. The opportunity is open to 30 volunteers, and registration is required.
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