Earth Week: What to Check Out

It's Earthweek and SECS will be hosting a heck of a lot of events this week. Below is an abbreviated list of some of the larger events we'll be putting on. For a full list of events, check out the Earth Week Facebook event page by clicking here. To register to help volunteer at any events, click here. They're sure to be a good time!

Monday (Earth Day)

Make Your own Green Cleaning Supplies - Cancelled
Illini Union Room C
7:00pm-8:00pm

Dr. Suess's The Lorax
Main Quad
7:30pm

Tuesday

Environmental Expo
Courtyard Cafe
11:00am-2:00pm

Is SECS the only environmental club on campus? Nope (just the best)! Stop by the Courtyard Cafe between the hours of 11:00 and 2:00 on Tuesday to check out some other cool campus environmental RSO's. Each will have a booth and will be dishing out information about what they are working on to make the world a better place. SECS will be letting passers-by decorate pots and plant their own springtime flowers and herbs. We'll also be selling SECS t-shirts, too! They'll come with a free coupon for Espresso Royale.

Eco-Documentary Screening: Your Environmental Road Trip

University YMCA K Room
6:30pm

What's YERT? No, not a yurt, YERT is an awesome eco-documentary about three friends who embarked on a one year road trip through all 50 states to find what America is doing to make a change for our environment. I haven't seen it myself, but one reviewer called it "funny and insightful", so it must be good! Check out the trailer to the right and come to the Y to check it out in full this Tuesday.

Wednesday

Bike Blender Smoothies
Main Quad
11:00am-3:00pm

Mmmm... Smoothies. Love smoothies, but hate the calories? Well then why not do some calorie burnin' while your fruit is churnin' by taking a ride on the (stationary) bike blender! SECS will be on the quad Wednesday letting passers-by make their own man-powered, tasty smoothies to be enjoyed for a very reasonable price. Find this event along with the fix-it days detailed below.

Bike Fix-it Days: Day 1
Main Quad
12:00pm-4:00pm

Remember that time when we partnered up with Bike Face to fix bikes on the quad? If not, click here for the previously posted recap! This Wednesday and Thursday, we'll be at it again. We'll be on the quad from 12:00 to 4:00 each day giving bikes tune-ups and routine maintenance for the low, low price of a suggested donation and any parts replaced. You can even snag a smoothie while you wait at the bike blender (Wednesday only). Click here to RSVP on Facebook and contact Peter Whitney at pwhitne2@illinois.edu if you'd like to volunteer to help out.

SECS Benefit Concert
The Red Herring
10:30pm

Music is fun to listen to! For that reason you should come the Red Herring on Oregon Street this Wednesday to hear some! Performers will be Justin Rondon, Mischief Makers, and Gossamer's Hologram. After the regular SECS meeting on Wednesday, the plan is to go to Murphy's and then head to the show, so you should do that with us too. Admission will be a reasonable $3 which directly benefits us at SECS! Click here to RSVP on Facebook.

Thursday

Bike Fix-it Days: Day 2
Main Quad
12:00pm-4:00pm

It'll be the same deal as on Wednesday. Stop by the quad for your spring bike tune-up and tell your friends to do the same!

Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture Symposium
Illini Union Room 314A
11:00am-3:00pm

What's the deal with genetically modified foods? Find out at the Union on Thursday where you can hear four speakers talk about the modern GMO debate. The speakers will speak for 30 minutes each from the 11:00-1:00, which will be followed by a reception and discussion panel from 1:00-3:00. Registration is recommended, but not required. Click here to register to attend.

Cycling Savvy Course
Natural Resources Building Room 101
6:30pm-9:30pm

Using guided discussion along with photos, illustrations, animations and videos, this classroom course provides all the knowledge you need to drive your bike safely and confidently in traffic. Topics covered will be knowledge of the law, knowledge of bicycling safety, and knowledge of traffic cycling problem solving and will help you to become a savvy cyclist.

Friday

Beyond Coal "Our Voice" Rally
Main Quad
12:00pm-1:00pm

SECS's own Beyond Coal will be holding a rally on the main quad this Friday with a theme of "Our Voice". It will feature professors and students speaking about issues in environmental justice, which disproportionately affect the underprivileged citizens of our country, and how the coal in companies in whom our university invests try to silence their voices. It should be a great rally, so stop on by! Click here to check out the event on Facebook.

Keynote Speaker: "American Energy Policy and Other Funny Stories" presented by Michael Webber, University of Texas
Illini Union Room C
12:00pm

This talk will share funny anecdotes and revealing conundrums from four decades of sub-optimal US energy policy. Part entertainment and part college lecture, this talk has some surprising points of view, mythbusting revelations, and fun facts scattered along the way about the dysfunctional world of modern policy-making. It includes and overview of the latest developments in the energy sector (such as the revolution in fracking, and the recent price drops for solar panels), and closes with optimism that despite a determination by policymakers to worsen the situation, the energy outlook is quite rosy anyway.

Sustainable Foods Discussion and Picnic
Illini Grove
4:00pm

Join some professors and like-minded students for a sustainable foods picnic at Illini Grove. Snacks will be provided and ideas will be shared to all in attendance.