It’s time for UCA’s annual Green Week! Each spring students organize a week-long celebration of environmental efforts at the university.
Green Week, which began in 2010, will be held April 16-20 on the UCA campus. The goal of Green Week is to promote awareness and activism regarding green initiatives through student leadership and involvement. The event is organized by UCA students.
The event includes informational table displays, visits from local and statewide “green” organizations and businesses, speakers on environmental issues and fun activities and demonstrations on eco-friendly practices.
This year, Green Week is divided into themes with each day dedicated to a particular environmental issue:
– On April 16, the theme will be green businesses and nonprofits that are associated with green initiatives. Representatives from various businesses and organizations will visit campus to inform students and the community about how the health of the environment informs their business decisions and vision. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. between Snow Fine Arts and Short/Denney Resident Hall.
– Informational tables will be set up focusing on the environmental effects of energy sources and alternative sources of energy on April 17 from 11:30 to 2:40 p.m between Snow Fine Arts and Short/Denney Resident Hall. A representative from Stop Arkansas Fracking will speak at 1:30 p.m. about the fracking practice in Arkansas and the impact it has on local ecosystems. Also at 1:30 p.m., Conway’s Green Cart Deli (a solar powered, mobile food stand) will be on campus to offer free hot dogs cooked by the sun to participants.
– On April 18, there will be a display of all the recycled materials collected in a day from the UCA dorms. Various student organizations will inform students about recycling from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. between Snow Fine Arts and Short/Denney Resident Hall.
– On April 19, the topics will be clear water, organic farming, the slow food movement, and composting. Information will be available from 11:30 to 2:40 p.m between Snow Fine Arts and Short/Denney Resident Hall.
– On April 20, the focus will be the “Natural State.” There will be a wide variety of student organizations there to inform students of how they can get involved in green initiatives. Also, there will be an eco-literature camp-out — students from UCA’s Environmental Alliance will gather around in tents and sleeping bags to read excerpts from beloved environmental authors such as Aldo Leopold, Annie Dillard, Thoreau and Wendell Berry.
A new component this year is the Evening Series with environmental documentaries and lectures to supplement the events during the day. Randy Frazier, a local environmental, inspirational speaker and activist, will give a lecture Thursday night. There will be film or lecture on an environmental issue each evening at 6 in the Student Center. Some of the films include: “Gasland,” “The Economy of Happiness,” “180 degrees South” and the UCA affiliated documentary “The Natural State of America.” .
“The Natural State of America” highlights a four decade effort to prevent herbicide use in the Arkansas Ozark National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service has sprayed herbicides in the Ozark National Forest for years for their vegetative management. The film follows concerned residents, environmental activists, and organic farmers as they battle their rural electric cooperative in order to protect the region’s organic farms, wells, springs, and the Buffalo River, the first National River in the United States, from being contaminated by herbicides.
“The Natural State of America” screening is April 20, 6 p.m. in the Student Center. The film was directed by UCA Film program alumni: Terrell Case, Timothy Wistrand, and Corey Gattin, written and produced by UCA assistant professor of anthropology, Dr. Brian Campbell, and the animation was created by UCA Alum Gustav Carlson. Some of the film production team and film “characters” will be available for Q&As and DVD signings following each screening.
