Sustainability Week offers environmental education, opportunities

KOKOMO, Ind. - To commemorate its 10^th anniversary, the IU Kokomo Office of Sustainability will host a week of tree planting, beekeeping demonstrations, and other hands-on activities.

Sustainability Week is observed September 8 to September 11 on campus, according to Andy Tuholski, director of the Office of Sustainability.

"Sustainability Week gives us a chance to look at what students, faculty, staff, and community partners have built together, while also inviting people to help shape what the next decade should look like," he said. "At its best, I think sustainability should be hands-on, creative, local, and shared, so that is what this week is meant to show."

Activities include:

• Tree planting, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 8. Participants will meet for a group photo at the Observatory at 11 a.m., then break into groups to plant approximately 60 trees and plants across Sustainability Meadow and Kokomo Creek. If time permits, volunteers will also perform a trash cleanup of this area. Work gloves, shovels, rakes, and heavy-duty trash bags will be provided. All that is needed is individuals ready to work to make our campus cleaner and greener.
• Beekeeping demonstration, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 9. Celebrating our fourth year as a certified Bee Campus, we will welcome our campus beekeepers from Shue Bee Farm to lead a demonstration in Sustainability Meadow, adjacent to the lower level of the parking garage. Attendees will watch and learn up close from inside a tent with protective netting walls.
• Paint and Plant event, 10 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, September 10 in the Kelley Student Center Cougar Commons. Participants will receive a terracotta pot and materials for decorating such as paints, brushes, stickers, acrylic paint pens, and other art supplies. After decorating their pots, attendees will be provided seeds, soil, and care instructions. Judges will select a winning design.
• The Science Behind Forest Narratives, 11:30 a.m. Thursday, September 10 in Kresge Auditorium and the Art Gallery. Join Minda Douglas, associate professor of fine arts, for an artist presentation examining the scientific concepts and ecological insights that shape the exhibition Forest Narratives. Go beyond the surface of the artwork and discover the forests, ecosystems, and natural processes that inspired the work. Through this presentation, Douglas will explore the ecological, biological, and environmental systems that inform the exhibition and deepen its connection to the natural world.

Tuholski said Sustainability Week reflects the campus's long connection with art and creativity.

"Over the years, students have created rain barrel artwork, designed shirts and canvas bags, moss art, and now we are bringing back our 'Paint and Plant' activity," he said. "Sustainability is about science and service, but it also involves imagination, design, and the ability to see a familiar place differently.

"My hope is that people leave Sustainability Week feeling more connected to campus and more aware that they have a role to play here."

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