Sustainability and environmental awareness will be front and center April 16-20 as Bellevue College celebrates “Earth Week” with a variety of events. Here’s what’s in store over the five days:
- A fashion show, featuring outfits created from used and second-hand materials, Thursday, April 19 at 11:30 a.m. in the cafeteria
- A series of lectures all week, including two informative talks by local authors: David Williams, who wrote “The Street Smart Naturalist: Field Notes from Seattle” and Kurt Hoelting, author of “The Circumference of Home: One Man’s Yearlong Quest for a Radically Local Life”
- Showings of several films about environmental issues, including “Revenge of the Electric Car” and “The Dark Side of Chocolate”
- The third-annual BC Farmer’s Market on Tuesday, April 17 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring a small number of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, honey and dairy product
All events are free and open to the public and will take place on the college’s main campus, located at 3000 Landerholm Circle SE in Bellevue. A complete schedule can be found by visiting http://scidiv.bellevuecollege.edu/rv/earthweek/2012/schedule12.php
Earth Week, sponsored by BC’s Sustainability and Science Association, began a dozen years ago as an effort to promote environmental awareness and sustainable use of our planet’s resources, timed to coincide with Earth Day celebrations on April 22.
Since that first Earth Week, Bellevue College has worked to incorporate sustainable practices into its operations. A comprehensive project to upgrade campus lighting, water and HVAC systems to substantially increase energy efficiency is underway, promising to reduce energy consumption by 17 percent, water use by one-fifth, and carbon dioxide emissions by 2.2 million pounds annually. And just recently, it announced the pending installation of four electric car charging stations and the development of a car-sharing program featuring an all-electric Nissan Leaf.
“Earth Week gives our students and the public the opportunity to learn more about how sustainability and environmental issues are connected to everything we do. It’s vital for the college to incorporate this ethic into our teaching to provide our students the skills they need to live and work in a healthy, sustainable world,” said Dr. Robert Viens, dean of the college’s Science Division and organizer of Earth Week.
Last Updated November 19, 2013