**Earth Week 2011

Download the Earth Week Schedule Here! Hope to see you at our events!

All events are free of charge. Many events are open to the public. Please direct any questions to empowerbrown (AT) gmail (DOT) com.

Thursday, April 21st, 4 – 7:30 p.m. (Earth Eve)
Visiting Chef/Earth Day Dinner at the Ratty, featuring award-winning chef Jody Adams ’79 serving up local, organic food. Note: the meal is only open to meal plan holders (no guest credits). More information: http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Food_Services/ or contact Gina_Guiducci (AT) Brown (DOT) edu.

Friday, April 22nd (Earth Day)
12 – 4 p.m. Carnival on the Main Green
Come play green games, make a reusable bag, or buy your own snap pea plant! (Rain location: Kasper Multipurpose Room, Faunce House.) Brought to you by EcoReps and Environmental Events.
4 – 6 p.m. “The Future of Nuclear Energy: Lessons from Japan”
Watson Institute, Joukowsky Forum. Sponsored by the Japanese Cultural Association and Brown’s Earthquake Relief Committee.
7 – 9 p.m. Film Festival Screening: FernGully
Brown community only. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for more information.
10 p.m. – 2 a.m. Green Party!
Grad Center Lounge, Featuring DJs Big Red and Tyrannosaurus Sex. Wear green! Free, $2 suggested donation. Supported by the Late Night Fund. Brown/RISD ID required.

Saturday, April 23rd
11 a.m. Bike trip with the Brown Outing Club.
Meet at Faunce Arch for a fun ride down the East Bay bike path to get ice cream. Need to borrow a bike? Contact bikesatbrown AT gmail DOT com or stop by their table at the Carnival.
12 p.m. – 12 a.m. Brown Folk Festival
Lincoln Field. Look out for our friendly green tips and skits between acts!
3 p.m. Brown Men’s Lacrosse Game
Featuring Earth Day announcements and swag courtesy of Brown Nation.
6 p.m. Film Festival Screening: Fresh
Brown community only. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for more information.
9 p.m. – 12 a.m. “Yes, We Can!”
Food preservation and canning workshop (pickles, jam, sourdough, “bootleg bouillon,” ginger beer, and more!) in the Caswell kitchen, brought to you by members of the Sustainable Food Initiative.

Sunday, April 24th
4 – 5 p.m. Film Festival Screening: “Earth Shorts”
Brown community only. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for more information.
8 – 10 p.m. Open emPOWER Meeting
Come check out our eight member groups: Beyond the Bottle, Bikes @ Brown, Brown Climate Action Fund (BCAF), EcoReps, Environmental Events, RI Student Climate Coalition (RISCC), Student Composting to Rejuvenate Agriculture in Providence (SCRAP), and the Sustainable Food Initiative (SuFI). New members are always welcome!

Monday, April 25th
3 – 5 p.m. Upcycling Workshop on the Main Green.
Want to give that old t-shirt in the back of your closet a new life as a top, tote bag, book cover, apron, miniskirt, organizer, tutu, or something else? We’ll provide supplies, project ideas, and technical help. All you need to do is bring an unwanted t-shirt to turn into something new and
wonderful. No sewing experience necessary! Brought to you by the Vault, Brown Student Agencies’ new thrift/exchange/workshop program.
7 – 8 p.m. “Change of Heart” by Nick Cooney.
Nick Cooney teaches advocacy organizations about human psychology, and what approaches work and don’t work in getting others to open their hearts and minds to various causes. A lot of scientific research has been done about how we can more effectively get people to support a cause by volunteering, donating, changing their behavior in some way, and in general adopting more compassionate, sustainable, progressive attitudes. His presentation looks at some of that scientific research and provides clear, easy-to-use techniques that advocacy organizations like ours can put into practice to be more successful in our work on campus. To learn more, visit http://www.ChangeOfHeartBook.com. Sponsored by the Psychology DUG; in Salomon 101. Free food!
8:30 – 10 p.m. Film Festival Screening: No Impact Man
Brown community only. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for more information.

Tuesday, April 26th
12 – 12:30 p.m. Archaeology and Climate Change
Talk sponsored by the Joukowsky Institute. Rhode Island Hall. Free pizza!
12 – 4 p.m. “Meet Your Meat”
Learn about the environmental impacts of meat production with the Meatless Monday Campaign and Brown Animal Rights Club on the Main Green.
4 – 7 p.m. Bring Your Own Compost!
Learn about composting with SCRAP and EcoRI on the Main Green, and make sure to bring your own food waste to be composted!
8 – 9 p.m. Film Festival Screening: Truck Farm
Come see the award-winning documentary! Light, local reception at 7:30 p.m. before the screening. Brought to you by Brown Dining Services. Salomon 101. This is the ONLY Earth Week film that is open to the public. For more information about this and the rest of the films, please scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Wednesday, April 27th
10 a.m. – 3 p.m. “Students in Action” Conference – CANCELED
This day of training, hosted by the RI Student Climate Coalition and Clean Water Action, will be rescheduled in the near future. Stay tuned!
4 p.m. Lobby Day at the R.I. Statehouse – still happening!
3 – 5 p.m. Bike Repair Workshop
Hang out on the Main Green with Bikes @ Brown! Come learn how to repair your (or another’s) bike and fix it on the spot.
7 p.m. Film Festival Screening: Gasland
Brown community only. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for more information.

Thursday, April 28th
12 p.m – 2 p.m. Water Day!
Come to the Main Green to participate in the bottled water taste test hosted by Beyond the Bottle.
6 p.m. Film Festival Screening: Blue Gold and “The Story of Bottled Water”
The discussion afterward will be led by Robert Sims, Project Manager at the Maguire Group’s Water Resources unit. Brown community only. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for more information.
8 p.m. Ciclovida
Watch the award-winning documentary “Ciclovida” that pedals alongside a group of subsistence farmers from Brazil who bicycle over 6,000 miles in search of natural seeds, exposing the devastating effects of industrial agriculture. “Ciclovida” will be run by bike-powered projections and followed by speakers and musical performances from Brazilian activists and musicians. In List 120. Sponsored by UFB and the Portuguese and Brazilian Studies Department.

Friday, April 29th
12 – 1 p.m. “People Powered Playoffs” – Canceled
Come see what Brown Engineers can build out of old bikes and vote for your favorites! Brought to you by EcoReps and the Engineering DUG. Note: This event has been canceled. Look for it in future semesters or as part of Earth Week 2012!
1 – 2 p.m. “Ciclovida” Workshop
Workshop on pedal and solar-powered sound & video on the Main Green, led by the makers of Ciclovida (see previous day).
3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m “Global and Local: The Fight for a Workable Climate.” by Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben, noted environmental author, activist, and founder of 350.org, will be giving a keynote speech to conclude the week’s celebrations. Q&A to follow the talk in Salomon 101 (De Ciccio Auditorium). This lecture is FREE and open to the public; doors open at 2:45 p.m. Sponsored by emPOWER, Center for Environmental Studies, Southside Community Land Trust, and UFB.

Update:

Bill McKibben lecture video now available online!

Have a great, green Earth Week!

Please note: All events scheduled to occur on the Main Green will be held in Salomon Lobby in the event of rain, unless an alternate rain location is specified.

The Earth Week Environmental Film Festival

*Please note that these educational film screenings are ONLY open to members of the Brown community, unless otherwise indicated.*

All films will be followed by Q&A and discussions, so stick around! Descriptions below quoted from IMDb.com.

Friday, April 22nd: FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Wilson 102, 7 p.m.
Plot: “The magical inhabitants of a rainforest called FernGully fight to save their home that is threatened by logging and a polluting force of destruction called Hexxus.”

Saturday, April 23rd: Fresh, Wilson 102, 6 p.m.
“FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.”

Sunday, April 24th: “Earth Shorts” study break!
Short, fun films such as “The Lorax,” and “The Story of Stuff.”  Wilson 102, 4-5 p.m.
Plot (“The Lorax”): “A young boy goes to meet a ruined industrialist in a treeless wasteland and hear his tale of what happened to him. His tragic story is about how he began a thriving business with a useless fashion product derived from the trees of a forest. As his business booms, the forest and its inhabitants suffer as he wantonly clearcuts without regard to the warnings of a wise old creature called the Lorax about the dire consequences of his greed.”

Monday, April 25th: No Impact Man, Barus & Holley 166, 8:30 p.m.
“Follow the Manhattan-based Beavan family as they abandon their high consumption 5th Avenue lifestyle and try to live a year while making no net environmental impact.”

Tuesday, April 26th: Truck Farm, Salomon 101, 8 p.m. Light reception begins 7:30 p.m. Open to the public.
“Truck Farm takes a look at the quirky world of urban agriculture. Using green roof technology and heirloom seeds, filmmaker Ian Cheney plants a garden on the only land he’s got: the back of his Grandad’s old pickup truck. Once the truck bed begins to sprout, he and the Truck Farm set out to explore the rooftops, barges and windows that represent New York City’s newest edible oases. The film is a whimsical call-to-farms.”

Wednesday, April 27th: Gasland, Wilson 102, 7 p.m.
“It is happening all across America-rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from an energy company wanting to lease their property. Reason? The company hopes to tap into a reservoir dubbed the ‘Saudi Arabia of natural gas.’ Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground – a hydraulic drilling process called ‘fracking’ – and suddenly America finds itself on the precipice of becoming an energy superpower.”

Thursday, April 28th: Blue Gold and “The Story of Bottled Water” (short), Wilson 102, 6 p.m.
Blue Gold: World Water Wars: “Wars of the future will be fought over water as they are over oil today, as the source of human survival enters the global marketplace and political arena. Corporate giants, private investors, and corrupt governments vie for control of our dwindling supply, prompting protests, lawsuits, and revolutions from citizens fighting for the right to survive. Past civilizations have collapsed from poor water management. Can the human race survive?”
Robert Sims will introduce the film and lead a discussion afterwards about water privatization, both in the context of the film and in his experience. Mr. Sims has over 25 years of experience and applied knowledge in the study, design, and management of civil and water engineering projects. He has a wealth of experience, including work in Massachusetts and Rhode Island municipalities, and is currently working as Project Manager of the Maguire Group’s Water Resources unit. He is the father of a student at Brown and is excited to talk with people who are interested in the study of water rights and the environment.