Unique festival along the Connective Corridor among the planned events
Earth Day began in 1970 after millions of demonstrators came together to draw attention to pollution issues, and over the years it has evolved into an annual event focused on the importance of sustainability. This idea of community is still strongly celebrated every April 22, especially at Syracuse University. Earth Day is becoming Earth Week, as students, faculty and staff gear up for events celebrating local green efforts. Earth Week creates the opportunity for students and community members to talk about important sustainability issues and ignite change in the community.
Among the events celebrating Earth Week this year is an inaugural “Green Streets & Local Eats Day,” a unique new festival along the Connective Corridor showcasing campus and community efforts related to sustainability and smart growth on Monday, April 21, from noon-2 p.m.; a litter clean-up project in Walnut Park on Tuesday, April 22, from 9-11 a.m.; and a screening of “Gasland 2” in Gifford Auditorium at 7 p.m., with a panel discussion following.
Monday, April 21
Green Streets & Local Eats
Working with a broad coalition of campus and community partners, the Connective Corridor—a project of SU’s Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development—is encouraging campus and community members to go outdoors and enjoy nearly 30 activities related to sustainability and localism planned along the Connective Corridor.
A map with venues and locations offers a quick glimpse at all that is going on, from noon to 2 p.m., giving people ample reasons and opportunities to get outdoors and explore—from taking a healthy Monday Mile Walk, to green infrastructure and green building tours, downtown historic architecture and sculpture tours, biking tours, free outdoor fitness and dance classes and a number of other activities sponsored by area businesses and restaurants offering “Green Streets” specials focusing on local goods and foods.
“Winter in Syracuse is long, and spring is a much-anticipated rebirth of green landscape upstate,” says Linda Dickerson Hartsock, who manages the Connective Corridor. “As the seasons begin to change, what better way to celebrate the first signs of spring than to get outdoors and celebrate Earth Week while exploring the network of green streets we are literally building right now in Syracuse along the Connective Corridor.”
Hartsock has been working with Syracuse University Sustainability, as well as other SU program areas, such as the Maxwell School, SyracuseCoE, Recreation Services, Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion/Monday Mile, VPA, UPSTATE/SU School of Architecture, Near West Side Initiative and the SALT District, as well as a host of community partners to craft the activities, and says the event helps showcase what is being done in the city and at the University to position Syracuse as a leader in sustainability. “The goal of the corridor is to build green streets and to activate them,” she says. “This is an opportunity to see the city’s largest green infrastructure project being built, see examples of sustainability being demonstrated along the way, and be part of a growing localism movement.”
The Syracuse Common Council issued a resolution designating April 21 as “Green Streets & Local Eats Day” in recognition of this event and celebrating leadership by Syracuse University, Onondaga County/Save the Rain and the city in the area of sustainability and smart growth.
Hartsock learned about Green Streets events taking shape in other communities while speaking at a recent Greenbuild international conference sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council. “After hearing our presentation, participants from around the world commented that while other communities are talking about green streets, we’re one of the few communities actually building them through this unique partnership model,” she says. Syracuse’s Connective Corridor features one of the first green bike lanes to be installed under new federal standards, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has come to Syracuse to meet with the Save the Rain and the SyracuseCoE to learn about the sophisticated green infrastructure network that is part of the Connective Corridor. When completed, the Connective Corridor will harvest and manage 22 million gallons of water annually, using a variety of sophisticated green infrastructure technologies, and also replace old failing municipal infrastructure.
At a corridor information outreach session earlier this year, a number of SU students approached Hartsock about how they could become more involved, particularly around sustainability. As result, Eric Ennis G’14 (master’s in public administration, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs) and Amy Goodall-Ayres, a Snow Fellow with the Central New York Community Foundation, became part of the core “Green Streets & Local Eats” project planning team. They worked closely with partners that included 40 Below and the 40 Below Public Art Task Force, City of Syracuse, Onondaga County/Save the Rain, Syracuse CVB, Syracuse First, OCCRA, Centro, CNY Arts, OHA, Everson Museum, Redhouse, CNY Community Foundation, Clean Communities and other groups that quickly signed on.
“The result is an event that really captures the Connective Corridor and the sustainability behind it, and also demonstrates how sustainability relates to lifestyle, wellness, health and well-being. It’s a great way to bring Earth Week and Wellness Week together,” says Hartsock.
“The goal of the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs is to support healthy behaviors,” says Thomas Dennison, professor of practice, public administration and international affairs in the Maxwell School and director of the Lerner Center for Public Health. “The center’s Healthy Monday Syracuse program helps people and organizations start and sustain healthy behaviors, and the Monday Mile is an initiative of Healthy Monday that encourages people to be more physically active. Monday Mile route markers create a sustainable infrastructure that shapes the environment and also promotes healthy and active communities. Green Streets & Local Eats, featuring several Monday Mile walks, is a great part of SU Wellness week too.”
Learn How to Urban Garden
Beautify an empty lot in Syracuse at the Morningside Community Garden and help the Students of Sustainability (SOS) grow experimental flax and other plants. The group will meet outside the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center at 4 p.m.
Screening of ‘Years of Living Dangerously’
This Showtime documentary series is a vivid depiction of deforestation. This episode follows Matt Damon and Harrison Ford as they travel to Indonesia to investigate the palm oil industry, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as he joins a team of wildfire firefighters. A discussion will follow. Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse 3, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 22
Litter Clean-Up Project
A litter clean-up project, sponsored by the University’s Sustainability Division and Students of Sustainability, will be held in Walnut Park from 9-11 a.m. “The Walnut Park area is a little gem in the city, and it will be nice to make sure it is clean for everyone to use it,” says Melissa Cadwell, marketing manager in the Sustainability Division.
Earth Day Resolution
All members of the SU community are encouraged to make a commitment to helping to preserve the planet and its resources. Visit the #TRUfactz table in the Schine Atrium from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to share your resolution. Tweet your resolution to @SOSatSU or post on the SOS Facebook wall for a chance to win a $20 gift card from Strong Hearts Café. SOS members will take part in conscious conversation and will be selling Canary Project posters and calendar books.
Learn How to Urban Garden
Beautify an empty lot in Syracuse at the Morningside Community Garden and help the Students of Sustainability (SOS) grow experimental flax and other plants. The group will meet outside the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center at 4 p.m.
Screening of ‘Gasland 2’
“Gasland 2,” filmmaker Josh Fox’s sequel to his Oscar-nominated film “Gasland,” will be screened at 7 p.m. in Gifford Auditorium in HBC. Premiering in 2013 at the Tribeca Film Festival, “Gasland 2” takes a deep and broad look at the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil that is now happening on a global scale, and is an issue of intense debate here in Central New York.
Speaking on the panel following the showing of Gasland 2 will be members from Green Campus Initiative (GCI), Students of Sustainability, SU Divestment and ESF Divestment.
“This screening will provide an opportunity for students and local residents to become aware of some issues tied to hydrofracking, which is a key phenomenon facing our region. While not exhaustive of all perspectives surrounding energy use, this screening of “Gasland 2” will provide an opportunity to participate in a critical, student-led dialogue about the complex ways that hydrofracking relates to local communities and decision-making processes,” says GCI member Erica Tauzer.
The Sustainability Division will supply refreshments during the screening, but this is a zero-waste event; attendees will need to provide their own “mess kit,” such as reusable mugs, containers and silverware. “Zero waste events aim to reduce resource consumption and waste generation,” says Cadwell.
Wednesday, April 23
#TRUfactz Table in the Schine Atrium
SOS members will sell Canary Project posters and hold a raffle for a free bike from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Petitions will be available regarding sustainable initiatives on campus.
Yoga on the Quad
Bring your yoga mats to the Kenneth A. Shaw Quad from 2-3 p.m. for an hour of stretching and relaxation.
Learn How to Urban Garden
Beautify an empty lot in Syracuse at the Morningside Community Garden and help the Students of Sustainability (SOS) grow experimental flax and other plants. The group will meet outside the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center at 4 p.m.
Conscious Consumption: The Story for Food
Learn about the truths of eating organic, going vegan and how food impacts your health and wellness. Watson Theatre, 6:30 p.m.
For more information about Earth Week-related activities, visit sustainability.syr.edu.
