Earthcycle, also known as Environment Week, is coming up at U of T from September 21st to 26th. With over 25 things to see and do — all incorporating the theme of climate change and the environment — you might get overwhelmed with what you want to check out. Here are some of blogUT’s event picks for Earthcycle.

Workshops and Tours

Container Gardening Workshop
Thursday Sept. 24 from 1pm – 3pm @ International Student Centre Veranda

Learn about city gardening – grow your own food

Trinity College Green Roof Tour & Lunch
Wednesday Sept. 23 from 12pm – 2 pm @ St. Hilda’s College Residence

Students from Trinity College, the first University of Toronto signatory to the Presidents’ Climate Change Initiative, will provide a tour of their green roof and free lunch to visitors.

Food

Hot Yam vegan lunch
Thursday Sept. 24 from 12pm – 2 pm @ International Student Centre, Baldwin Room

A $4 vegan lunch by the Hot Yam! — a healthy environmental alternative to fast food and animal products.

Lectures

“What Prospect for a Decent Future?” – A lecture on the corporatization of the university
Monday Sept. 21 from 3pm – 5pm @ Hart House South Dining Room

A panel of Science for Peace members examines the current scientific evaluation of the climate-change emergency, and the hope of, even now, avoiding the worst of the predicted scenarios. They will also look at the responsibility of the University in this crisis: are our shortcomings related to the “corporatization” of the universities?

This talk stems from a study authored by Prof. Valleau, Professor Emeritus (Chemistry) and Prof. Paul Hamel (Medicine). Panelists include Prof. Valleau, sociologist Prof. Magrit Eichler, psychiatrist Dr. Jim Deutsch, and doctoral candidate (religion & environment) Paul York.

“Ontario’s Energy Future – Nuclear or Renewable?” – A lecture on Nuclear Energy in Ontario by Jack Gibbons (OCAA Chair) & Shawn-Patrick Stensil (Greenpeace)
Wednesday Sept. 23 from 3pm – 5pm @ Hart House – East Common Room

Ontario’s electricity system is at a cross road right now. Our dirty coal plants are being phased-out, thankfully, by 2014. At the same time, most of our existing nuclear power plants will come to the end of their lives during the next 10 to 15 years. As a result, we now must re-build our electricity system from the ground up.

The Ontario government is proposing to fill this future electricity gap by expanding both green and nuclear energy. But investing in nuclear will preclude the green energy revolution we all want and need.

Fortunately, the tide may have turned on nuclear; in recent months proposed projects have been cancelled, and new contracts put on hold. This buys us time to organize.

The choice to be made is now – either be stuck with more nuclear energy for the next 60 years, or transition to a 100% renewable electricity grid by 2027. What would that look like? Is it even possible? What’s the problem with nuclear anyways? And what can citizens do about it?

Films

Out of Balance: Exxon Mobil’s Impact on Climate Change
Friday Sept. 25 from 12pm – 2pm @ Sid Smith / Student Life Centre Room 1079

Before anyone had ever heard of “An Inconvenient Truth,” Portsmouth-based documentary filmmaker Tom Jackson (“World’s Apart”, “Greetings from Missile Street”) got it into his head to tell the story of the connection between “the largest problem the world has ever faced” and “the biggest private company in the history of humankind.” Like Al Gore’s film, the hour-long “Out of Balance: ExxonMobil’s Impact on Climate Change” details the science and consequences of global warming. Its focus, however, is on ExxonMobil’s financing of media campaigns and global warming skeptics.

After the film there will be an informal discussion on the corporatization of the University of Toronto, including the presence of Imperial Oil (Exxon’s Canadian subsidiary) on campus.

The 11th Hour, produced an narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio
Friday Sept. 25 from 5pm-7pm @ International Student Centre Basement

The 11th Hour is the last moment when change is possible. The film explores how we’ve arrived at this moment — how we live, how we impact the earth’s ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolsey and sustainable design experts William McDonough and Bruce Mau in addition to over 50 leading scientists, thinkers and leaders who discuss the most important issues that face our planet and people.”

See the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IBG2V98IBY

Other Fun Stuff

Car-Free / Bike to Campus Day
Tuesday Sept. 22 from 10am – 4pm @ Hart House Circle

This is Earthcycle’s major event. There will be clowns, music, street theatre, bike races, chalking, food, fun and — most importantly — NO CARS!

Regenesis Fundraising Extravaganza
Thursday Sept. 24 from 7pm – 1am @ Distillery District, Building 9 (Art Gallery)

This event includes complementary vegetarian appetizers, a silent art auction, an eco-conscious fashion show, dance performances, a cash bar, eco-friendly door prizes, surprise entertainment, live entertainment featuring Dr. Draw, and more.

All students who bring an Earthcycle flyer along with Student ID get in for FREE.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under Entertainment, Events, Film, Food & Drink, Music, On Campus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.