Campus Earth Month Celebrations 2024 – Featuring Arbor Day

Planet vs. Plastics is the global theme for Earth Day 2024. It sounds like a fun matchup with a clear favorite (Go Planet!), but unfortunately, plastic is winning, with more than 380 million tons of plastic being produced each year. That number is up exponentially from the 2 million tons produced in 1950, and it’s still growing. By next year (2025) plastic production is expected to top 600 billion tons—not including synthetic fibers in clothing and home goods, which just makes the size of the problem worse.

Fortunately, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is on Team Planet!  F&S is proud to support these great Earth Day events that you can take part in:

Campus Trash Pickup Day: This volunteer opportunity is sponsored by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE). The event is at Everitt Laboratory on Tuesday, April 16, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Volunteers will help properly dispose of trash and recyclables. Registration is encouraged to help get an overall headcount, but it’s also okay to show up on Tuesday afternoon and join the group (initial meetup is outside the facility).

Earth Month Lecture: iSEE and the College of Law are hosting Howard A. Learner, president and executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago, on Thursday, April 18, at 4 p.m. Learner’s talk “Getting Smarter about a Smart Transmission Grid for the Future,” will be held in the Max L. Rowe Auditorium in the Law Building (504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue). For more information, visit https://sustainability.illinois.edu/outreach/lectures-seminars-symposia-colloquia/.

Illini Lights Out: Volunteers will turn off lights in campus buildings, which will reduce energy use and emissions, on Friday, April 19, beginning at 5:30 p.m. This is the final Illini Lights Out of the school year. Sign up or just meet in the lobby of the Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics Building. Snacks to follow the event.

Boneyard Creek Community Day: Join F&S, Champaign Park District, iSEE, and other organizations in cleaning out the Boneyard Creek and other waterways and green areas in Urbana and Champaign on Saturday, April 20 (rain date: May 4) from 9 a.m. to noon. Learn more about this important work at http://www.boneyardcreek.org/.

Sustainapalooza: Be a part of the Earth Day festival on the Main Quad, with food, live music, art, vendors, a clothing swap, and more! This event, which replaces Green Quad Day, is Monday, April 22, from 4 to 8 p.m. Learn more at https://calendars.illinois.edu/detail/6831?eventId=33482899. Registered student organizations, community-led organizations, and campus groups interested in participating should RSVP.

Sustainability Celebration, Green Globes & 2025 iCap Kickoff: iSEE and the Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC) are hosting this event at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building’s Atrium and Grainger Auditorium on Thursday, April 25 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. To register or learn more, visit https://calendars.illinois.edu/detail/6831?eventId=33482900.

Arbor Day Celebration: Since 2015, the Urbana campus has had Tree Campus Higher Education recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation. Meet behind the southwest corner of Foellinger Auditorium on Friday, April 26, at noon, to participate in this year’s planting of the Arbor Day tree and a chance to win a small plant prize at Arbor Day Tree-via. After the celebration, please join Brent Lewis, campus landscape architect, as he gives a tree walk focusing on species around the Main Quad.

Favorite Tree Contest: Through Wednesday, April 24 at midnight, you can also nominate your favorite campus tree. Do you love a cherry tree or perhaps a weeping willow at Japan House? Does the Eastern Redbud by Noyes Lab make your heart sing in spring? Maybe you enjoy the river birch on the Bardeen Quad? Perhaps you want to nominate last year’s winners, the Red Oak Rain Garden’s twins, the red oak and the American sycamore, to repeat this year. Whichever you choose, be sure to fill out the 2024 Favorite Tree Contest form. Upload a picture of your tree nomination and you could win a prize.