Wesleyan’s Sustainability Office hosted several earth-friendly opportunities in honor of Earth Month. On April 21, students from the Bread Salvage group promoted their organization during Earth Fest, a music and food festival on Foss Hill.
Students ride bikes to generate power for a concert at Earth Fest.On April 22, Boston College Professor of Sociology Juliet Schor ’75 delivered the Earth Month keynote address on “Treading Lightly on the Earth.” Schor explored how “plenitude,” a set of new practices and ways of living that emphasize eco and carbon footprint reduction outside of the traditional “Business as Usual” economy, can be used to mitigate future climate and environmental threats.At the “Green English” panel discussion honoring his works and career, English and Environmental Studies Professor Bill Stowe, the Benjamin Waite Professor of the English Language, explored the role of nature in the literary humanities alongside fellow presenters (right to left) Stephanie Weiner, associate professor of English; Lois Brown, professor of English and African American studies; and Courtney Weiss Smith, assistant professor of English on April 18 in Downey House.Sustainability staff and interns sorted trash and recycling from residence halls in order to investigate how to effectively reduce campus waste at the Residential Waste Audit on April 26.Brian Stewart, associate professor of physics, shared his insights into the future of energy during his sixth annual “Earth Week Rant” on April 26.Last year, Wesleyan composted about 3.5 tons of pre-consumer food waste. Wesleyan compost bins are positioned throughout campus.On April 4, Myra Hird, professor and Queen’s National Scholar in the School of Environmental Studies at Queen’s University, Canada, discussed her research team’s latest work on waste flow management, “Waste, Landfills, and Ethic of Environmental Vulnerability.” This event was sponsored by the Science in Society Program.
View the full Earth Month schedule online here. (Photos by Hannah Norman ’16)
Hannah Norman '16
Mike Mavredakis
Ziba Kashef
Andrew Chatfield