During the second week of October, the Yale community is invited to celebrate sustainability through a week-long series of events hosted by individuals, departments, and groups across Yale. Events range from a mulching party at the Yale Community Forest Garden where participants will help make nutritious soils from waste products, to a talk by a Yale-New Haven Hospital dietitian about sustainable food sources in diets.
This year’s theme is “Enhancing Sustainability through Community Collaboration,” and hosts were encouraged to partner with other groups on campus and in the community when planning their events. The theme was chosen to align with the annual Hixon Conference, which is taking place on Friday, Oct.13, and is focused on university-municipality partnerships towards urban sustainability.
![](/sites/default/files/images/sheet%20mulching.jpg ""A Sheetmulching Party!” is one of the many sustainability events happening next week.")
Many of the events coming up next week highlight this theme of collaboration. The Women’s Working Network, the Office of Sustainability, and CTRides will be hosting a carpool-matching event where participants can learn about the benefits of carpooling, and meet colleagues from their neighborhoods that might be interested in carpooling to campus. The Peabody Museum will host a hands-on solar car kit workshop where a Yale undergraduate group, Project Bright, will be available to teach participants about solar energy and assist children in assembling their cars.
Additionally, the campus is invited to help in an annual tree planting event in recognition of Yale staff members celebrating five years of service. The event is sponsored by the Urban Resources Initiative in partnership with Yale Human Resources and Yale Facilities. One can also join a lunchtime walk along the Farmington Canal Heritage trail, hosted by Lisa Fernandez, Associate Director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Participants will learn about the friezes on the new residential colleges.
Other highlights include:
- tours of Yale’s Sterling and Central power plants;
- a nature immersion meditation at Farnam Memorial Gardens;
- a fall bird walk;
- a campus-wide book swap where remaining books will be donated to New Haven Reads;
- a “Chewing the Fat” event with Gabriel Rosenberg, whose research investigates linkages among gender, sexuality, and the global food system;
- a talk by Bill McKibben, entitled “Simply Too Hot: The Desperate Science and Politics of Climate”;
- an informal walk and talk by Peabody naturalists about the benefit of native plants;
- documentary film screenings;
- yoga classes throughout the week;
- a Berkeley tea with Lisa Friedman, a reporter who focuses on climate and environmental policy in Washington D.C.;
- several opportunities to volunteer at the Yale Farm.
The week coincides will the release of the annual sustainability progress report. The 2017 report will show Yale’s progress toward reaching its goals after the first year of implementing the Yale Sustainability Plan 2025.
A full listing of events can be found on this online calendar. The community can also follow the hashtag #ysustain on Twitter and Instagram to follow or engage with this year’s events.
Yale is committed to building a more sustainable world. By doing what we do best—integrating science, the humanities, and our community—Yale creates, tests, and adopts innovative solutions to the environmental and social challenges we all face.