Every year, on April 22, the world comes together to give a little extra love to Mother Earth. The day is celebrated around the world with events, conferences, service projects and more. This year, Oregon State’s Student Leadership & Involvement Team (SLI), ASOSU, the Sustainability Office and Campus Recycling have come together to create 16 events known as Beyond Earth Day.

The events run from April 20-27, ranging from workshops, to a ball, to service projects; there is something for everyone to do to participate in celebrating all the Earth gives us and to give back.

To start off the week of events is the Northwest Spring Fest, held in the Student Experience Center from 5:00-9:00pm on April 20. The event, styled like a street fair, includes sustainable craft projects that help you learn about sustainable practices and initiatives at OSU, yoga, food, live music from local artists and even creating your own tea.

The following day has been deemed the Earth Day of Service, starting on April 21 from 8:00am-2:00pm in the S.E.C. Plaza. Any and all people around the OSU community are invited to participate in the day and help the Earth through projects that are focused on environmental conservation and restoration. The day is hoping to bridge a connection between OSU students, faculty and staff with the Corvallis community. That night, on the Sky High Brewery Rooftop, from 7:30-10:30pm, you can “Party with a Purpose” (if you’re over the age of 21) at the Earth Ball with the Corvallis Environmental Center. Here you can enjoy live music, raffles, a photobooth and more. Earth inspired outfits/costumes are encouraged!

On actual Earth Day which is celebrated worldwide, the main event is known as Hoo Haa!! From 2:00-6:00pm you can head to OSU Organic Growers Club Farm to experience live music, a warm dinner at 4:30, planting onions and more! All are welcome to this free event, and there is a bus and bike brigade shuttle that will be leaving from the Beaver Store every 30 minutes.

April 23 is all about warm beverages. From 9:00-11:00am, you can come to Mug Shots Coffee and Cocoa Giveaway in the MU quad. Here you will get your “Mug Shot” and free coffee or hot cocoa in any reusable mug you bring! The hope is to reduce the amount of disposable coffee cups that enter the world everyday. In addition, there is Sustainabilitea in the S.E.C. from 10:00-12:00pm. Here you can jumpstart your week with some fair trade tea and create a community space for sustainability allies to gather.

On Tuesday April 24, if you’re an instructor, you can participate in the Open Textbook Network from 10:00-11:30am in the Valley Library to talk about ways to fix the issue of expensive textbooks, and introduce the concept of open textbooks and how they benefit the community. Another event taking place on this day is the 18th Annual Community Fair that hosts 40+ groups from on campus and around Corvallis that will offer activities and information based on sustainable practices, ecosystems, social justice and healthy economies.

Due to the fact that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, on April 25, all are invited to make a statement by wearing jeans to visibly protest against sexual assault. Deemed Denim Day, the event will be hosted in the S.E.C. Plaza from 10:00-2:00pm and will consist of tables and activities from organizations on campus that cover sexual assault prevention, response, and survivor support.

More events on April 25 include Climate Conservations, held in the S.E.C. from 3-4pm to learn about barriers that prevent a productive dialog around climate change, Working with Nature- The Century of Forests and Forest Products held in LaSells Stewart Center from 3:30-5:30pm, which is a presentation discussing natural resources, and Food of Sinful Demons: Tibetan Vegetarianism and Why it Matters will be held in Milam Hall from 5:00-8:00pm. Here, Geoff Barstow, an Assistant Professor in the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion will talk about his new book, Food of Sinful Demons: Meat, Vegetarianism, and the Limits of Buddhism in Tibet (2018). The event is a potluck, and bringing a dish to contribute is welcome.

April 26 hosts three events: Undergraduate-Graduate Student Mixer for Environmental Arts and Humanities, held in Ballard Extension Hall from 1:00-2:00pm, where students thinking about graduate school can talk to students, staff, and faculty in the MA in Environmental Arts and Humanities Program; Discussion: Underrepresented Communities in Agriculture, held from 5:00-7:00pm in Centro Cultural Cesar Chavez; and Take Back The Night, held in the S.E.C. Plaza from 7:00-10:00pm, an event to protest sexual violence and the societal factors that contribute to it,

To round off the week of events, there is the the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Quarterly Gathering, held from 12:00-1:30pm in the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, which features presentations from partners of the coalition.

For more information about the events for Beyond Earth Day, visit earthday.oregonstate.edu.

https://earthday.oregonstate.edu/events/list/?tribe_paged=2&tribe_event_display=lis

https://www.livescience.com/50556-earth-day-facts-history.html

Photography by Artem Bali (via unsplash.com)