Earth Week 2024

 

Schedule of Events

(schedule will be updated as events are finalized)

Please follow UMaine’s COVID-19 guidelines for any in-person events.

Ongoing All Week:

  • Nature Photo Contest  — GCI is hosting our annual Earth Week nature photo contest!  To participate, just go out and take pictures of nature and either tag us on social media or email us. We will randomly choose a grand prize winner, and 2nd & 3rd place winners. Location: Online and IN NATURE!
  • UMaine Spirit Week  — Sponsored by Student Life. In 1935 President Arthur Hauck inaugurated MAINE DAY, a day set aside for “spring clean-up” of our campus. The entire campus community – students, faculty, staff, and alumni – pitches in to spruce up the campus. Historically Maine Day was set on Wednesday of the last week of classes of the Spring semester. Over the decades, the tradition transitioned away from its roots and became a large-scale celebration. In the fall of 2024, the University shifted to “Spirit Week”, a week-long focus on beautification, giving back to campus, and increasing Black Bear school spirit. Various Locations: Click Here for the Schedule

Daily Events:

  • Saturday, April 20th, 10:30 AM: 2024 Healthy High 4.2k Road Race — Sponsored by Campus Recreation. Come for a day of racing, fun, and community! This year’s Healthy High is a kick-off to UMaine Athletics Black Bear Bash which will feature food, activities, Football’s Spring Game, Baseball’s Youth Day, and Softball Senior Night Double Header. Runners can still register for the race in person at The New Balance Campus Recreation Center up until the race. Location: New Balance Campus Recreation Center

Earth Day!

  • Monday, April 22nd, All Day: Spire Issue #8 Release — Spire: The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability is publishing its eighth amazing issue!  Spire issue #8 contains a variety of submissions, including art, poetry, photography, research, and personal stories. Access the latest issue and back-issues by clicking here. Location: Online
  • Monday, April 22nd, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM: Earth Day Innovation Hour — Sponsored by Foster Center for Innovation. At this networking and brainstorming event, faculty, staff, and students will be armed with markers and sticky notes, and encouraged to walk around and brainstorm ideas big and small. Together, we’ll come up with a mix of wild and practical ideas for how we might innovate technology and systems to protect the environment. During this pilot event, you can bring your own topics to discuss, and contribute ideas to pressing environmental questions. For example, we could think about: How can we drive less and bike more? How can residents manage food waste? How can we prevent pollution from microplastics and PFAS? How can we use more solar energy? How can coastal communities be resilient to storms and sea level rise? Location: 123 Long Road, UMaine
  • Monday, April 22nd, 5:00 PM: UMaine Campus Sustainability Dialogue — Sponsored by Terrell House Permaculture Living and Learning Center and the Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions. Come join us for a free dinner and conversation on campus sustainability issues. Location: 107 Norman Smith Hall
  • Monday, April 22nd, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM: UMaine Climate Action Tabling in the Union — Sponsored by UMaine Climate Action. Screenprint Fundraiser and FREE ZINESSSS. Location: Memorial Union

More Daily Events:

  • This event has been canceled: Climate Chat-ivism — Sponsored by UMaine Climate Action. Speakers, signs, and sit-ins for radical climate activism! Celebrate Earth Week by engaging in important dialogue!. Location: This event has been canceled
  • Tuesday, April 23rd, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM: Eco-Philosophy Forest Walk — Sponsored by PHI 232 Prof. Don Beith. Forest walk hosted by PHI 232 Environmental Ethics. Contemplation, friendly discussion, and reflections on environmental justice and ecological wisdom. Location: Behind New Balance Student Rec Center, by trail entrance near big rock and shed
  • Wednesday, April 24th, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Garbage Gallery — Sponsored by The UMaine Green Team. Collect interesting pieces of trash you find and instead of throwing them away, bring them to our event where you can turn them into art. The Garbage Gallery is meant to remind us of the exorbitant amounts of trash we produce in our daily lives and its impact on the environment. All are welcome! Location: Bumps Room, Memorial Union
  • Friday, April 26th, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM: Earth Day Bash — Sponsored by Terrell House Permaculture Living and Learning Center. We’ll have performances from Tease, Free Parking, and a Mystery Mega Jam Band. Get your tickets now, because they sell out fast! This is a huge fundraiser for our club. Thank you for your support! Location: Terrell House
  • Friday, April 26th, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Pop Up Clothes Shop — Sponsored by UMaine Green Team, Black Bear Exchange, and Geology Club. This is a free clothing exchange with clothes provided by the Black Bear Exchange. Students are welcome to donate clothing and/or pick up items.  Location: Totman Lounge, Memorial Union
  • Saturday, April 27th, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Orono Farmer’s Market Shuttle — Sponsored by UMaine Green Campus Initiative. Join GCI in going to the Orono Farmer’s Market! Celebrating and supporting our local farmers fosters the local economy and supports sustainable agriculture. We will shuttle participants back and forth to the Orono Farmer’s Market. Location: meet outside of Androscoggin Hall anytime between 9am-12pm and we will pick you up!

More Events:

  • Thursday, April 18th, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM: Free Film Screening: Covenant of the Salmon People — Sponsored by NRCM, in partnership with the Sierra Club Maine, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Wabanaki Alliance, the Penobscot Nation, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, and the Downeast Salmon Federation. COVENANT OF THE SALMON PEOPLE is a 60-minute documentary portrait of the Nez Perce Tribe as they continue to carry out their ancient promise to protect the Chinook salmon. The film explores the intertwined fate of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce), salmon, and the landscape from which both evolved. The Nez Perce people are the oldest documented civilization in North America, with archaeological sites along Idaho’s Salmon River dating back 16,500 years. Today the Tribe is facing the extirpation of their most prized salmon species despite decades of recovery efforts. The widespread construction of dams across their Traditional lands has continued to challenge salmon recovery. The only option remaining for the Tribe, is the breach of four dams on the lower Snake River–will the Federal Government take charge of the situation or sit idly while this iconic species vanishes from their home waters? REGISTER HERE Location: Gracie Theater, Husson University
  • Ongoing: 2024 Human Dimensions of Climate Change Film Series — Sponsored by Fogler Library, the Climate Change Institute, the Department of Anthropology, the School of Food and Agriculture, the Cultural Affairs Distinguished Lecture Series Fund, the McGillicuddy Humanities Center, and the School of Economics. Did you miss our 2024 Human Dimensions of Climate Change film series? Never fear! You can still watch the films, and access a wide range of resources on the topic via Fogler Library. UMaine’s Fogler Library purchases a broad range of materials to support research and teaching needs on campus. On this page, you will find a selection of works in Fogler Library (and beyond!) that emphasize the potential impacts of, and adaptations to, climate change among populations throughout the world. This interdisciplinary subject is growing in visibility, and is the subject of course work throughout the university. Enjoy! Location: Films & materials available to check out at the library