May 16, 2024
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Joliet Junior College’s Sustainability Union plans Earth Day events for April

Plan to attend one or more events. Some are virtual, some are in-person, some are both.

By Denise M. Baran-Unland
The public can vote in Joliet Junior College’s Recycled Art Show this Earth Day, April 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Main Campus Center Bridge at 1215 Houbolt Road in Joliet.

Pictured are items from a Joliet Junior College recycled art show held during a previous Earth Day event. Joliet Junior College’s Sustainability Union has planned virtual and in-person events for April in honor Earth Day 2022.

The environmental movement as people understand it today began in 1970 and that movement is celebrated as Earth Day on April 22, according to Earth Day: The Official Site website, earthday.org/history.

In celebration, Joliet Junior College’s Sustainability Union has planned a variety of virtual and in-person activities for the month of April. According to JJC, anyone who participates in an “Earth Month” activity will receive a free Earth Day T-shirt and a raffle ticket for a chance to win a solar-powered battery pack (three will be given away, according to JJC). Anyone who attends three events will get a metal water bottle, JJC said.

All in-person events are at JJC, 1215 Houbolt Road, Joliet. Earth Day activities are as follows:

April 13: Gardening and Planting Webinar and Pot a Plant Event, noon to 2 p.m., virtual. After the webinar, take part in Pot a Plant from 1 to 2 p.m. in room A-1061.

April 18: A Piece of JJC Terrariums, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Meet outside the cafeteria. Make a terrarium from materials found throughout JJC’s natural areas.

April 19: Earth Day Sustainability Soiree, noon, Joliet Junior College bridge. Event features Food, a free T-shirt, videos about environment, equity and economy and an open mic discussion of these topics.

April 20: Advocate for Environmental Legislation, noon, virtual and in-person in room A-1061. Speaker will be Ann Bakersville, who works for the Illinois Sierra Club as a conservation organizer.

April 21: Fen Tour, 2 p.m. Meet outside the cafeteria by the patio. Professor Andy Neill will give a tour of JJC’s beautiful Fen.

April 27: Biomimicry webinar, noon to 1 p.m., virtual and in-person in room A-1061. Speaker Amy Coffman Phillips, who was trained as an architect, builds connections between people and nature through design. She will discuss biomimicry, “the design and production of materials, structures and systems that are modeled on biological entities and processes,” according to JJC.

April 28: “Dark Waters” film screening, 6 p.m., Joliet Junior College theater. Mark Ruffalo portrays Robert Bilott, the attorney known for his environmental lawsuits against the DuPont company, which exposed a long history of chemical pollution in drinking water. The JJC Sustainability Union is partnering with the Coalition for the Protection against PFAS to host the movie presentation.

April 29: Reconnect with Nature - Arbor Day Celebration, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Joliet Junior College, arboretum. Snacks at 11 a.m. Tour of the arboretum at 11:30 p.m. by Michael Brouillard, JJC’s superintendent of roads and grounds. Meditation from noon to 12:30 p.m. led by David Opon, JJC natural sciences professor. Yoga from 12:30 to 1 p.m. led by Kelly Fowler from Sage Bodyworks. Refreshments available from 1 to 2 p.m.

For information on activies and how to access virtual ones, visit jjc.edu/campus-life/sustainability. For information on Earth Day, visit earthday.org.