Reduce, Reuse, Recycle with Style: Earth Day at Bennington College

From natural cleaning product recipes, to creative ways to make new clothes from free clothes, to purchase strategies that help the environment--- Bennington College celebrates Earth Day Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22, 2007, with lectures, workshops, and creative programs highlighting innovative strategies that will offset our environmental impact. All events and activities are free and open to the public.

Earth Day events begin at 2:00 pm, Saturday, April 21, 2007 in the Student Center with a talk led by author and environmental activist Jim Merkel. Merkel's work explores consumerism as it relates to our ecological footprints. He is the author of Radical Simplicity, which offers ways to reduce debt, increase savings, and align work with personal values—all of which help alleviate a consumer’s impact on the environment. After quitting his job as a military engineer following the Exxon Valdez disaster, Merkel developed tools for personal and societal sustainability, conducting environmental workshops throughout North America. He is currently the sustainability director at Dartmouth College.

Following Merkel’s Radical Simplicity workshop, a 7:30 pm screening of The Future of Food in the Tishman Lecture Hall will conclude Saturday events.

Bennington’s Earth Day Fair continues on Sunday, April 22, 2007, from 1:00-5:00 pm, on the Common’s Lawn (rain will relocate the fair to the Student Center). Among many booths, the fair will include a paint-your-own Tote Bags station, a community mural station, a CFL conversion booth, with scheduled hands-on workshops.

1:00 pm- Tree planting- More trees please, a how-to tree planting tutorial.

3:00 pm- New clothes from free clothes- Every Bennington College house has a “free pile” that accumulates clothes, led by some of Bennington’s most inventive students, participants will gather free clothing from piles and learn patterns and techniques that transform old clothes into new wardrobes.

Bennington celebrates Earth Day as the College is in the midst of significant gains that have furthered the College’s environmental initiatives. Recent measures have included the conversion from oil based heat to biomass heat sources, building insulation and energy efficient upgrades, environmental course offerings, and printing all College stationary on recycled, environmentally friendly paper, among many other steps taken towards a greener campus. In addition to administration led efforts, Bennington has benefited from a wide-range of student led gains including recycling programs, campus-wide composting efforts, and a new reusable coffee mug program that will help alleviate paper cup usage on campus.