Earth Week fair to be held Thursday
The Environmental Coalition at Virginia Tech will be hosting a series of events for Earth Week April 18-24 on Virginia Tech's campus.
The week of events will culminate in a large-scale fair taking place on the Virginia Tech Drillfield on Thursday, April 21. The fair will consist of between 50 and 80 information booths belonging to environmentally conscious student groups, local businesses, and non-profit organizations. A number of green technologies also will be showcased during the fair, including hybrid cars, a car that runs on used vegetable oil, renewable energy technologies, and personal scooters that get more than 100 miles to the gallon.
A bike-maintenance workshop will be held for the duration of the fair, so bike owners in need of a tune-up can bring their bicycle to the Drillfield. Fair attendees will be constructing kites from recycled paper and flying them in the large Drillfield space. There also will be a leave-no-trace workshop for campers and backpackers, as well a number of other instructional workshops. Any community members, organizations or businesses interested in participating in the Earth Day fair should contact earthweek@vt.edu to register for a table.
Earth Week 2005 will begin with a seminar by Judith Layzer, an environmental science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Layzer will present her seminar, “Not Dead Yet: The Future of American Environmentalism” at 4 p.m. Monday, April 18, in 100 Hancock.
Arun Ghandi will give a presentation about nonviolence at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in Squires Old Dominion Ballroom as part of the collaborative Earth Week and Victory Over Violence events. Gandhi is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.
On Wednesday, April 20, a workshop will be held to make kites from recycled material and construct decorations for the following day’s Earth Day fair from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Squires Old Dominion Ballroom. An environmental film series focused on energy use will begin at 4 p.m. in 3100 Torgerson showcasing films such as “KiloWatt Ours,” “Oil On Ice,” and “Razing Appalachia.” At 6 p.m. following the films, Michael Abraham will give a seminar entitled “Coming soon: How Peak Oil will change your life and your country forever."
The Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping will be making their Blacksburg debut at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in Squires Colonial Hall. Reverend Billy is a revivalist preacher who leads the Church of Stop Shopping, an anticonsumerist communion of actors and activists. Reverend Billy will present a video about the Church Of Stop Shopping and give a performance.
On Thursday, April 21, during the Earth Day fair, the reverend will make an appearance on the Drillfield, followed by another performance at 9 p.m. in Squires Old Dominion Ballroom following the fair. For more information about Reverend Billy, visit http://www.revbilly.com/.
John Johnson will open for Reverend Billy in Squires Old Dominion Ballroom at 7 p.m. Thursday. John Johnson sits on the board of directors of the Dogwood Alliance, a regional network focused on protecting the southern hardwood forests against unsustainable forest practices. John will give a presentation “The Endangered Forests of Southern Appalachia” in Old Dominion Ballroom.
Johnson will take part in an environmental activism discussion at 3 p.m. Friday, April 22, in Squires Old Dominion ballroom. Additional members of the panel will include Susan Anderson, the editor of the New River Free Press, and Don Langrehr, a member of the Green party recently elected to the Blacksburg town council.
Following the panel discussion on environmental activism, there will be a concert in Squires Old Dominion Ballroom starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 22. Bands that will play include Jungle Ed, Baba G Nush, Karmaflo, Shift 5, The Potentials, and Chris Dodson. The concert will be a joint effort of Earth Week and the Victory Over Violence campaign.
The town of Blacksburg will be holding its annual Earth Day celebration from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 23, at the Blacksburg Heritage Park. Activities include a tree planting demonstration, tree planting, and spring cleaning of one of the town’s newest parks. For more information, contact Stephan Martin in the Blacksburg Department of Public Works at (540) 961-1806.
On Saturday, Virginia Tech students also will lead tours of local renewable energy projects, including a student-led wind turbine installation and a green building located in Blacksburg. Tours of the Virginia Tech Solar Decathlon house also will be held throughout the week.
The Earth Week events will conclude with the keynote speaker, Bill McKibben, one of the most-read environmental authors of our times, and a former staff writer for The New Yorker and regular contributor to The New York Times at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 24, in 100 McBryde. His landmark book, The End Of Nature, sounded one of the earliest alarms about global warming. McKibben also will read and sign his book at 4 p.m. the same day at the Easy Chair on South Main Street.
For more information on the Earth Week events, please visit the Environmental Coalition website http://www.ec.org.vt.edu/or email us at earthweek@vt.edu. Also contact Aaron Barr, (540) 239-0974, curly@vt.edu.
