EVENTS

You Are Here

The 13th annual Earth Day Celebration is an environmentally-based event that celebrates the Earth and its resources. This year’s event theme is You Are Here and features over 40 educational activity booths, the relocated Lane County Master Gardener’s Annual Plant Sale, the John H. Baldwin Film & Lecture Series, a musical main stage, a Procession of All Species, important community awards, and much more! The event is produced by the volunteer efforts of the Earth Day Steering Committee.

The Eugene Water & Electric Board will be awarding two grants of up to $100,000 each to local renewable energy and education projects, as chosen by EWEB customers who are signed up for the Greenpower program. The two winners (the finalists are chosen from organizations that are either tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations or academic institutions) will be announced on the main stage at 1:50 p.m. Also on the main stage this year, at 11:00 a.m. Mayor Kitty Piercy will award the bi-monthly Bold Steps Sustainability Award, given to businesses that have incorporated the triple bottom line thinking into their daily business practices.

LTD will provide free bus shuttle service from the downtown station to EWEB’s River Edge Plaza during event hours, with special stops at Saturday Market.

John H. Baldwin Film & Lecture Series
North Bldg., EWEB Training Center; Board Room

Lecture Series Schedule

12:00 - 1:00 p.m.  - “Reuse it” – Bring and the City of Eugene’s Recycling video (.5 hours) Brett Jacobs-BRING Recycling
“Reuse it” is a 12 minute video produced for BRING and the City of Eugene by award-winning producer, Jerry Joffe . This video offers a look at the used building materials industry in Oregon, and shows why reuse is good for the environment and our economy. The goal of the movie is to create broad-based awareness of the benefits of reusing building materials, and to encourage salvage and reuse.

BRING’s Education Director, Brett Jacobs, has a background in air pollution science, international trade, and international development. Brett, a licensed science teacher, currently works in Lane County, helping others understand, in their daily lives, the importance of reduce, reuse, and recycle. Internationally, he has worked in the Republic of Panama and, most recently, in Palestine.

1:00 - 2:00 p.m. - Ecopsychology: Understanding our Need for Nature. Patricia Hasbach
We need nature for our physical and psychological wellbeing. We always have. As a species, our bodies and minds came of age interacting with abundantly diverse and wild nature. But in our modern, urban, technological society, we have largely forgotten that this is so, resulting in our disconnection from the natural world. What are the costs of this forgetting? How might we find our way back to a relationship with the greater-than-human world? Can our “ecological self” and our “technological self” be integrated into a healthy balance? How can we hope to conserve our native habitats if we don’t know or care about them? As we spend increasingly more time in front of screens and in virtual worlds, how do we maintain our sense of belonging and our “sense of place”? These are but a few of the questions the emerging field of Ecopsychology seeks to address as it explores the human-nature relationship.

Patricia H. Hasbach, Ph.D. is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and clinical psychotherapist with a private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and adjunct faculty at Lewis & Clark College and Antioch University Seattle. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and a post-doctoral MA in Ecopsychology from Naropa University. As a clinician, she incorporates ecopsychological practices with traditional theory to address issues of anxiety, depression, relationship concerns, health-related recovery, and wellness in adults and couples. She has consulted extensively with hospitals, schools, businesses, and community environmental activist groups. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the journal, Ecopsychology. She is also associated with the Human Interaction with Nature and Technological Systems Lab (The HINTS Lab) at the University of Washington. Her academic interests focus on the processes and mechanisms that underlie the development of an environmental sensibility and on what can be called “the rewilding of the human species.” She has a particular interest in how experiences in the natural world map onto the internal landscape of client reflections and thus enrich the therapeutic process. She is currently working on two books for MIT Press related to Ecopsychology and the rediscovery of the wild.

2:00 – 3:00  p.m. - Willamette Partnership - Joni Shaffer
The Willamette Partnership-- Changing the way we work with nature.

Every year businesses and communities spend tens of millions of dollars on environmental compliance. The Willamette Partnership is a non-profit conservation coalition that is using market-based approaches to think differently about how these dollars are spent. What if we relied more on healthy forests to deliver drinking water than expensive treatment technology? What if protecting prairies generated new jobs in restoration? The Willamette Partnership is working throughout the Northwest to make these questions a reality and will talk about how it's happening.

The Willamette Partnership's mission is to increase the pace, scope, and effectiveness of restoration in the Willamette Basin. The Willamette Partnership emerged in 2004 as a 501c3 nonprofit to build on the Willamette Restoration Initiative's work. This new coalition of conservation, city, business, farm and scientific leaders was founded to develop innovative, market-based tools that can combine with regulatory controls to deliver broad conservation benefits, at lower costs and with reduced conflict, first in the Willamette Basin and now in the Pacific Northwest. Joni Shaffer is the Willamette Partnership's lead for administration, communications, and training on ecosystem markets. Joni is pursuing a degree in Environmental Science and enjoys hiking, camping, and spending time with family.

Film Series Schedule

12:00 - 2:00 p.m.. - Waterlife (109 min)
This remarkable cinematic poem reveals the extraordinary beauty and complexity of the Great Lakes, the largest remaining supply of fresh water (20%) on Earth. The film tells the epic story of the Great Lakes by following the cascade of it’s water from northern Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean, through the lives of some of the 35 million people who rely on the lake for survival. WATERLIFE blends the realities of the pressures on the lake with a dreamlike fluidity as it pour though the lives of some amazing characters. Along the way, WATERLIFE shows viewers the Great Lakes as they might appear to a seagull, a fish or a water molecule…and from a myriad of other fascinating perspectives. Filmed over a year with a battery of specialty cameras and techniques, WATERLIFE provides an unprecedented view of an incredible ecosystem rarely seen by the city dwellers who form most of its population. From the ornate fountains of Chicago to the sewers of Windsor, viewers are carried through marsh and pipe, across pounding waters and through thunder clouds on a journey which, as the film says’ has no “ending or beginning that shapes everybody it passes through and united them all across space and time.”

2:00 - 3:00 p.m. - In Search of Good Food (58min)
In Search of Good Food follows Antonio Roman-Alcalá, an urban farming activist from San Francisco, on his search for the "sustainable" food system in California. The film attempts to answer the question: does the sustainable food system actually exist? And if it doesn't, what is preventing it from becoming reality? Built off of footage from a two-month trip around the state in early 2008, In Search of Good Food features interviews with farmers, farmworkers, wildlife advocates, cultural biologists, university professors, historians, educators, grassroots groups, organic foods distributors, the CA Secretary of Agriculture, and many others who form the various arms of this movement to ensure an ongoing supply of healthy, ecologically and locally-produced, economically affordable food for all Californians. Mixing street interviews with food consumers; the perspectives and stories of advocates; animations; and footage of both the bucolic countryside and hectic city, In Search of Good Food presents both a compelling argument for the need for a better food system, and incisive criticism of the limited effectiveness of consumer-based solutions. This film will make you think beyond "voting with your fork", to the real challenges and opportunities that we face in creating a safe, just, and sustainable food system that provides good food for all.

3:00 - 5:00 p.m.  - Deep Green (101min)
Based on six years intensive research and devoted exclusively to solutions to man-made global warming, “Deep Green” cuts through the clutter to bring new clarity to an increasingly-urgent situation. The film portrays the best applications worldwide in energy efficiency, green building, de-carbonizing transportation, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy and smart grids, and forest restoration. Some profoundly personal and practical—like what one person can do to lower their carbon load in their own house, with their own lifestyle, on their own land. Others are necessarily complex, such as Southern California Edison’s quest to find the best batteries to electrify transportation.

We hear compelling insights from dozens of prominent thinkers, entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers and government officials on de-carbonizing energy and restoring the natural environment. Included are legendary authors Lester Brown and Michael Pollan; renowned scientists Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute and Dr. David Suzuki; powerful voices in China like Barbara Finamore, Huang Ming, and Zhang Wei; and green energy pioneers in seven countries across Europe.

Lane County Master Gardener Association Spring Garden Fair and Plant Sale
(Main EWEB Parking lot, west of main entrance and under Ferry Street Bridge)
Lane County Master Gardener TM Association (LCMGA) is an Oregon State University Extension Service program that educates Oregonians in Lane County about the art and science of growing and caring for plants. This program also facilitates the training of a highly educated group of volunteers. These volunteers extend sustainable gardening information to their communities through education and outreach programs. At the Garden Fair and Plant Sale you’ll find literally thousands of plants being sold and have an opportunity to talk to growers about their project and special interests.

Booths include:

• Ask a Master Gardener
• Ask a Compost Specialist
• Ask a Master Food Preserver
• Adaptive Gardening
• Sustainable Landscaping
• Kid’s Corner • Recycled Garden Art
• Used Books, Master Gardener journals
• Used Tools
• Bake Sale
• Silent Auction (11-2 p.m.)

Plants on sale include:

• Perennials
• Annuals
• Bulbs & Tubers
• Bamboo
• Natives
• Ground covers
• Grasses
• Herbs
• Vegetables , including the latest in grafted tomatoes
• Trees & Shrubs
• Succulents
• Houseplants

MECCA’s Romper Room of Reuse and Recycled Art
(North Bldg., EWEB Community Room)
Craft activities for children and adults using reclaimed materials, including wearable art, musical instruments, hat and costume-making for the Procession of All Species. Meet behind the main stage at 1:45 PM for the parade!

Earth Day Book Swap and Book Sale
Reduce, reuse, reread! Join us upstairs in the EWEB cafeteria to swap or purchase your favorite earth-friendly books, suggest publications for others to read or to just relax. Bring a book to leave for someone else, or purchase a book to support the African children’s education project in Togo. New and used books donated by Smith Family Books and other local independent bookstores, along with Books w/o Borders periodicals and books relating to Earth Day will be for sale.

Earth Day “How To” Fair
In the EWEB Cafeteria area is a series of informative and instructional mini-workshops on weatherization, pruning trees, etc.

Free Bike Safety Check - 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Bicycle mechanics from Paul’s Bicycle Way of Life will be on hand to provide free bike check-ups and minor tune-ups. Grab your bike and pedal over to take advantage of this great offer – along with free, covered bike parking. One bike per person, please!

Prizes!
Visit all the Earth Day booths, and play our Booth Bingo to win valuable prizes, discounts and other items. Visit EWEB’s arborist booth to enter a drawing for a free tree. Quantities limited.

Procession Of All Species
A Celebration of all creatures great and small! The Procession of All Species is an artistic celebration in which participants honor all species of life on our home planet. Anyone can join the Procession by donning a costume, mask, or other representation of their favorite plant, animal, mineral, ecosystem or natural wonder (but NO live animals, motorized vehicles or written signs/messages).

Costumes and masks can be made onsite, beginning at 11 AM with M.E.C.C.A. in the EWEB Community Room. The Procession of All Species will assemble at 1:45 PM behind the Main Stage at EWEB’s River Edge Plaza Fountain, on the riverside proscenium. The route will meander through the Plaza and proceed across the Peter DeFazio Footbridge, over the Willamette River, and ending in Alton Baker Park. This year’s procession will be lead by madhatter Rich Glauber and Eugene’s favorite Brazilian troupe, Samba Ja!

Pacific Tree Climbing Institute
A free, introductory tree climbing experience open to all ages! PTCI is an Oregon outfitter/guide service that offers recreational, guided canopy tours. If you’re under 18 years of age, remember to bring a parent or legal guardian to sign the mandatory liability release! Located by the EWEB Credit Union Building on 4th Avenue and Mill Street.

The SunRover
Constructed as a demonstration of solar electric technology, the SunRover generates power from the sun. The blue photovoltaic (PV) panels mounted on top of the SunRover harness the sunlight to produce clean electricity. The SunRover can operate as a portable generator, delivering power to community events and educational demonstrations.

The Watery World at Earth Day
Walk across Willamette River on the Defazio Bike Bridge to the Watery World by the riverside at Alton Baker Park, near the Duck Ponds and participate in the fun exhibits and mini-workshops from 11:00 AM – 5 PM including:

– Native Youth Water Warriors - Pollution project
– Nuclear Northwest Watersheds- Hanford Radioactive Pollution -Lane County Dangers

KIDS WORKSHOPS AND ACTIVITIES

Make Clay Watershed Models of the Willamette Valley
For kids of all ages: come make your own take-home, potters clay models of our hills and rivers. Simulated rainfall lets kids see how our rivers work to shape and carve our region. Make a take-home Willamette Valley-to-the-sea watershed clay model in a workshop for younger kids, or join the group and make a huge clay model of the Eugene area watershed basin.

• Clay Critters of Our Watershed: figurine sculpting of our local animals and bugs in their habitats.
• The River Box: Kids playing with stream beds
  
• Boats on land to play in; canoe, sailboat, raft...
• Hydro Power Inventions: water wheels
• Wooden Toy Boat Making with recycled wood scraps
• How to Fish: in the ponds and in the river
• The Good Life Comfy in the Rain: explore a tent camp out of the rain with different water books and games to enjoy in each tent
• Poster Art with " Don't Dump Downstream" stencil art- painting fun

Brought to you by the Drop in the Bucket Brigade of the School of Earthy Arts (541) 653-4355, Louisa Hamachek.

Earth Action Arena Participants