The first college in the nation to divest from investments in fossil fuels and announce its focus on sustainability science, the leading edge of 21st century transdisciplinary (collaborative) environmental problem solving has announced a full slate of Earth Week activities.
Known as America’s Environmental College, Unity College will hold Earth Week events at various locations on its campus located at 90 Quaker Hill Road in Unity. The events are free and open to the general public.
In addition to public events during Earth Week, there are several sustainability challenges planned for members of the College community. The challenges include carbon footprint calculation, town service projects, a campus agriculture quiz, an alternative transportation commuter challenge, and Unity’s first ever cardboard kayak race. Challenge events from Monday, April 15 to Friday, April 19 are:
- Monday Commuter Challenge: walk, bike or carpool to campus
- Tuesday Carbon Challenge: complete an online carbon footprint calculator
- Wednesday Ag Challenge: Complete campus agriculture quizzes
- Thursday Community Challenge: town photo scavenger hunt or a community service project at Triplet Park
- Friday Recycling Challenge: join Unity’s recycling crew in a residence hall waste hall audit
Earth Week activities have been a long tradition at Unity College. The slate of public events during this year’s Earth Week includes:
- Wednesday, April 17 from 9 am- noon: Open barn where visitors can view the FFA’s chicken project, the renovated animal barn, and various agriculture projects
- Wednesday, April 17 from 12:30 pm: Greenhouse Grand Opening where visitors can view the campus vegetable greenhouse and learn more about Unity’s partnership with the community-based Veggies For All project
- Wednesday, April 17 at 3:30 pm: MOFGA’s campaign coordinators Logan Perkins and Jessie Dowling will discuss LD 718, “An Act to Protect Maine Food Consumers’ Right to Know about Genetically Engineered Food and Seed Stock”
- Friday, April 19 at 6:30 pm: Poetry reading with poets Alison Hawthorne Deming and Liz Bradfield for Poetic Science/Scientific Poetry in the Quimby Library
- Saturday, April 20 from 7 to 11 am: Annual pancake breakfast provided by the Sugar Makers club
- Saturday, April 20 at 9:30 am: 31st Unity College Annual 5k Road Race
- Friday, April 26 at 7 pm: Imagine Unity – Earth Week Poetry
A full schedule of Earth Week activities may be found on the Unity College Master Calendar.
In recent years Unity College has gained national attention for a variety of achievements including: its focus on sustainability science, the leading-edge of 21st century ecological problem solving and the vanguard in the fight for the mitigation of global climate change; its ground-breaking “green” innovations such as the award-winning TerraHaus, the first student residence on a college or university campus built to the Passive House standard, the most energy efficient building standard in the world; and for being the first college in the United States to divest from investments in fossil fuels, igniting a growing national movement in higher education.
Unity College is a small private college in rural Maine that provides dedicated, engaged students with a liberal arts education that emphasizes the environment and natural resources. Unity College graduates are prepared to be environmental stewards, effective leaders, and responsible citizens through active learning experiences within a supportive community.
