The Office of Sustainability, in partnership with over 18 student orgs, departments, and campus offices, will host its fourth annual Earth Week events from April 18-23, 2021. The events are a combination of virtual and in-person, and are open to all students, faculty, and staff. See below for 2021 programming!
Earth Week is an opportunity to celebrate as well as critically examine our relationships with the natural environment—and with each other. Beginning with our inaugural Earth Week in 2018 and continuing through our much-expanded Earth Week 2019 and all-virtual Earth Week 2020, the Office of Sustainability has hosted a variety of environment- and sustainability-related events during the week of Earth Day in April.
Earth Week 2021 Schedule
Scheduled Events
1:00pm – Earth Week Plant Giveaway
Join Allen Centennial Gardens in partnership with the ASM Sustainability Committee and the Office of Sustainability for a free plant giveaway! This event will take place outside of East Campus mall from 1-3 on Sunday, April 18th. Allen Centennial will be handing out clippings of plants in recycled test tubes from campus! All you need to do is pre-register for the event in order to reserve your spot and then come pick up your plant on the 18th!
** There are limited spots available, so we will use the pre-registration for reservation until all spots are filled. Registration link here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/13S6Xvh6OdFiwAzn41J4R-OWU3g6IlnoJ1ew0HHfQDGk/edit
All Week
Virtual Earth Day 5k
UW–Madison’s Office of Sustainability and its partners are hosting a virtual 5k in celebration of Earth Day! Get outside with this choose-your-own-adventure run/ walk/ ride event that you can do anytime, anywhere during the week of Earth Day.
Scheduled Events
7:00 pm – Inclusive Outdoors: An Earth Week Panel Discussion
Join the Office of Sustainability and the Social Justice Hub for a lively panel discussion about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the outdoors. Panelists include Elyse Rylander, founder of OUT There Adventures; Christopher Kilgour, founder of Color in the Outdoors; and Gwen Pastores, facilitator with Adventure Learning Programs. We’ll talk about what “the outdoors” means, the way that personal identities affect one’s relationship with outdoor spaces, and what efforts are taking place to make the outdoors accessible to all!
If you would like to submit a question for the panelists, please submit them in advance via this google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf97ZPO32FapcyJT5OB8_cBvBGaE-eE8zufwv7dhEhkFIbapw/viewform
All Day
All Week
Virtual Earth Day 5k
UW–Madison’s Office of Sustainability and its partners are hosting a virtual 5k in celebration of Earth Day! Get outside with this choose-your-own-adventure run/ walk/ ride event that you can do anytime, anywhere during the week of Earth Day.
Scheduled Events
5:00 pm – Earth Week with SEBA and ERBN: Business in a Green Economy
SEBA and ERBN will be hosting an Earth Week event with UW–Madison Professor Phaneuf to talk about how the future of business is changing as the world works to be carbon net neutral by 2050. We will cover what this transition means for businesses, government, and what we can do as future employees to push for sustainability within our organizations.
6:00 pm – Film Showing with WUD & Havens-Wright Center for Social Justice
6:00 pm – Advocacy in Sustainability
With the transition to the Biden administration, many questions have been raised on the future of sustainability. Come learn more on who are in key positions to help push a sustainable future and how you can get involved! Join the ASM Sustainability Committee, the ASM Equity and Inclusion Committee, and the Wisconsin Climate Action Coalition on Tuesday, April 20th from 6-7 pm via Zoom to get involved with sustainable advocacy! Learn more about the new administration, contacting your representatives, signing petitions, and getting involved locally in order to advance sustainability nationwide.
7:00 pm – Going Forward with Equity in Climate Change
Going Forward with Equity on Climate Change: What do we gain when we include diverse communities in the conversation about climate change? And what do we lose when we don’t? is free and open to the public. Registration is requested.
Scientists, engineers, experts and leaders from diverse backgrounds who work with BIPOC communities bring their perspectives to the state of the regional, national and global conversation around climate change. Featuring: Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes; Andrew Curley, University of Arizona; Dorothy Lsoto, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies; Yaa Oparebea Ampofo, Educational Policy Studies; Yiying Xiong, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center; and Dawn Crim, Secretary of Safety and Professional Services (moderator).
All Day
All Week
Virtual Earth Day 5k
UW–Madison’s Office of Sustainability and its partners are hosting a virtual 5k in celebration of Earth Day! Get outside with this choose-your-own-adventure run/ walk/ ride event that you can do anytime, anywhere during the week of Earth Day.
Scheduled Events
11:30 am – 1:30 pm – Earth Week Tie Dyeing with the Sierra Student Coalition
Join the Sierra Student Coalition (SSC) for a tie dyeing activity during Earth Week! Bring old clothes or other items and upcycle them with some beautiful blue and green, Earth-inspired tie dyeing. In the spirit of sustainability, we recommend you bring your own old items to repurpose, but if you do not have anything to tie dye, we will have some items available to purchase for a small fee while supplies last. SSC members will be there to help you out with your tie dyeing creation and to sanitize each station between use.
Link to register for in-person event: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSd5ZLnumbGP…/viewform
4:00 pm – Water, Culture, and Development – Earth Day Special
Meet Ursula Pike, who served in Peace Corps Bolivia 1994-1996. Her new book “An Indian Among los indígenas: A Native Travel Memoir” reflects on the importance of water in our lives, and the balance between respect for cultural norms and the need for economic development.
6:00 pm – Earth Week Wellbeing Workshop
During this Earth Week, join RecWell in going the extra mile to look out for our planet. With the help of their partners at F.H. King and the Office of Sustainability, this event will help you make the connection between environmental wellbeing and your own personal wellbeing, as well as how to contribute to our community’s environment.
Zoom link for the event: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/91344281745?pwd=bDVKRDBLM2Z5OFpNaytQZ0tsRjdyUT09
All Day
All Week
Virtual Earth Day 5k
UW–Madison’s Office of Sustainability and its partners are hosting a virtual 5k in celebration of Earth Day! Get outside with this choose-your-own-adventure run/ walk/ ride event that you can do anytime, anywhere during the week of Earth Day.
Scheduled Events
1:00 pm – Earth Day & Free Art Friday: Climate Justice Mural Painting
Lend your voice and creativity to the climate justice movement this Earth Day by joining Wheelhouse Studios and CLEAN to paint a collaborative mural. All supplies will be provided and no previous experience is necessary! Bad weather backup plan will be in Festival Room.
4:00 pm – Wisconsin School of Business Faculty Sustainability Roundtable
The purpose of this Earth Week event is to create a collaborative space for faculty to share sustainability practices in their industry, what the future of the business world will look as the planet decarbonizes, what the Wisconsin School of Business is doing to address this, and what classes are being offered in sustainability.
Dean Samba will be giving a keynote on his vision for the business school and what support for these initiatives will look like. Participating faculty will be given various prompts/questions to discuss regarding the purpose of the event. The event will finish with a student Q/A and breakout rooms for each department to talk further about their industry with faculty and students.
5:30 pm – Student Discussion with Earth Day Keynote Speaker
6:30 pm – Nelson Institute Earth Day Keynote: All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis
Join keynote speaker, marine biologist, policy expert, and writer Dr. Ayana Johnson for a discussion of her book, “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis.” She will explore conservation solutions rooted in environmental justice including the Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank she founded for the future of coastal cities.
8:00 pm – Earth Day Trivia
Join the UW-Madison Office of Sustainability and test your knowledge about Earth Day and sustainability with this virtual trivia night! This live event will feature corny jokes, a chance to prove you’ve got more sustainability smarts than your friends, and, yes, there will be prizes! Form your trivia team, choose a team captain, and submit the form below (only one form per team, please). Trivia will take place via Zoom at 8 pm on Earth Day, April 22nd, 2021. See you there!
Registration form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1syGWjw9zE3BehjxQHlUPtpu7LMndl1jaMyhrk-TkS1I/edit
All Day
All Week
Virtual Earth Day 5k
UW–Madison’s Office of Sustainability and its partners are hosting a virtual 5k in celebration of Earth Day! Get outside with this choose-your-own-adventure run/ walk/ ride event that you can do anytime, anywhere during the week of Earth Day.
Scheduled Events
12:00 pm – ASM Clothing Swap
Is your closet full of clothes that you never wear? Are you looking for some new additions? If so, join the ASM Sustainability Committee for a clothing swap on April 23rd outside at East Campus Mall from 12-3 pm. Bring your gently used items that you are looking to get rid of, and go home with new articles of clothing! Make sure to BYOB (bring your own bag) for your new items. Feel free to come and go as you please during the time of the event. Accepted items: gently used articles of clothing, shoes, jackets, and accessories such as bags and jewelry. At the end of the event, any unclaimed items will be donated.
1:00 pm – Earth Day & Free Art Friday: Climate Justice Mural Painting
Lend your voice and creativity to the climate justice movement this Earth Day by joining Wheelhouse Studios and CLEAN to paint a collaborative mural. All supplies will be provided and no previous experience is necessary! Bad weather backup plan will be in Festival Room.
3:30 pm – Cup of Communi-TEA: Mutual Aid Panel Discussion for Earth Week
Join the Office of Sustainability and the Social Justice Hub for a panel on fair tea trade practices and food insecurity – and how both intertwine under the overarching umbrella of mutual aid. President of Outwoken Tea (an organization committed to social and environmental sustainability while sourcing tea from small farmers) Aureal Ojeda, UW-Madison Professor Randy Stoecker from the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology, and Connor Raboine from Slow Food and the Food Justice Collective will unravel their unique perspectives about mutual aid and its roots in social justice.
4:00 pm – Nature, Your Partner in Wellness
Join Jane Hawley Stevens, 2020 Organic Farmer of the Year and founder of Four Elements Herbals, for an afternoon teatime conversation. Event open to all, FREE BOX OF FOURELEMENTS HERBAL TEA will be delivered to residents of the GreenHouse, WISE, BioHouse, Multicultural, International, and Chadbourne Learning Community who request it via their Housing portal (https://go.wisc.edu/my-housing)
All Day
All Week
Virtual Earth Day 5k
UW–Madison’s Office of Sustainability and its partners are hosting a virtual 5k in celebration of Earth Day! Get outside with this choose-your-own-adventure run/ walk/ ride event that you can do anytime, anywhere during the week of Earth Day.
Earth Week 2021 Partners
