Sustainability Office hosting Earth Month activities

Bemidji State University’s Sustainability Office is hosting a series of events throughout the month to recognize April as Earth Month, including an April 22 celebration for Earth Day.

• April 15: Sustainable Tuesdays, Darby Nelson, “For the Love of Lakes”
Darby Nelson will discuss his book, “For Love of Lakes,” which was a finalist in the creative/nonfiction memoir category of the 2012 Minnesota Book Awards. The book “weaves a delightful tapestry of history, science, emotion, and poetry for all who love lakes or enjoy nature writing.” Nelson will talk about his book at 2 p.m. in Hagg-Sauer Hall 100 on the BSU campus and from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Rail River Folk School in downtown Bemidji.

• April 21: Electronic Waste Collection
The BSU Sustainability Office, Bobcat of Bemidji and 5R Processors will be available in the parking lot near the Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues in downtown Bemidji from 1-6 p.m. collecting electronic waste such as televisions, computers, or other consumer electronics. Many devices can be dropped off for free, although some items such as plastic TVs and computer monitors, items containing Freon, speakers or televisions in wooden enclosures, or items with broken glass will incur a fee of between $5-15 per item. A data cleansing service for hard drives will also be available for $10 per drive; drives will not be returned. No hazardous, radioactive, explosive or flammable materials will be accepted. For more information, contact Diane Heyde-Peterson at dheyde-peterson@5rltd.com.

• April 22: Earth Day
BSU will host an Earth Day celebration featuring a farmer’s market, live music, bike tune up and a pipe ceremony from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Lakeside Terrace area of BSU’s lower Hobson Memorial Union.

BSU also will host a Sustainable Tuesdays event on local water quality issues, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the American Indian Resource Center Gathering Place. Panelists from around the state will present on Lake Bemidji, Park Rapids ground water and the effects of copper mining on water in the region. Refreshments will be provided.

• April 23: Grease waste and the North Country Trail
BSU will host a pair of presentations at the AIRC Great Room. The first presentation on grease waste begins at 4:30 p.m., followed by a presentation on the North Country Trail beginning at 7 p.m.

BSU’s celebration of Earth Month wraps up with an April 25 lakeshore cleanup event and beach party, and the April 26 Stride into Spring 5k/10k event which begins at BSU’s Gillett Recreation-Fitness Center.

• April 24: Traditional Skills Workshop: Safe Water Treatment
The BSU Sustainability Office will host a workshop showing water treatment and purification techniques from 5-7:30 p.m. Due to limited capacity in the BSU Sustainability Office, this event will be limited to approximately 20-30 participants. Advance registration is encouraged.

Documentary Series
Each Thursday during Earth Month, BSU is offering a free documentary film screening at 7:30 p.m. in Bensen Hall 115. Admission is free.

• April 10: “The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism and Community”
Directors John Ankele and Anne Macksoud feature thought leaders and activists in the realms of science, economics and spirituality to discuss how humans can evolve in the face of climate change.

• April 17: “School’s Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten”
In the Langnau am Albis suburb of Zurich, Switzerland, children go to kindergarten in the woods every day, rain or shine. Director Lisa Molomot follows the forest kindergarten through the seasons of one school year and looks into the important question of what young children need in their lives.

• April 24: “Tapped”
This 2009 film by directors Stephanie Soechtig and Jason Lindsey examines the role of the bottled water industry and its effects on our health, climate change, pollution and our reliance on oil.

Earth Month events are hosted by Students for the Environment, the BSU Sustainability Office, Student Senate, BSU’s Department of Economics, Sustainable Tuesdays, the BSU Outdoor Program Center, MN GreenCorps, the BSU Geography Club, Theta Tau Epsilon, BSU Lifestyle Educators, BSU Track & Field, People and the Environment, the Oak Hall Living Green Floor, the Hobson Memorial Union, BSU Campus Activities Board and the North Country Trail Association.

Contact
Erika Bailey-Johnson, BSU sustainability coordinator; (218) 755-2560

Links
BSU Sustainability Office
“School’s Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten” at IMDB
“Tapped” at IMDB
“The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism and Community” at IMDB