Events

Events

Sustainability events are happening year-round at UofL! Don't miss out!

What did I miss?! Check out our Past Events log.

Date	Event
March 29, 2025	Stream Cleanup Saturday, March 29th, 1-3pm, Meetup at Big Rock in Cherokee Park (2199 Park Boundary Rd) Campus Recreation and the UofL Sustainability Council invite you out for a volunteer day with Louisville Metro Parks to help clean up trash along Beargrass Creek in Cherokee Park. We will meet at 1pm at Big Rock in Cherokee Park; the official address is 2199 Park Boundary Road, where there is a parking lot. From that meeting site we will relocate to a worksite further downstream. Please sign up here.
March 29, 2025	Earth Fest 2025 Saturday, March 29th, 2-6pm, Alberta O. Jones Park (744 S 23rd St), Add to your Calendar UofL is thrilled to support the Louisville Metro Office of Sustainability in their efforts to host Louisville's first-ever Earth Fest, a community festival with food, music, performances, arts and environmental activities, community resources, and more on Saturday, March 29, 2025. Don't miss the Tree give-away, BioBlitz, and Live cooking demonstration.This event will kick off all the Earth Month events happening in the Louisville area. Location: Alberta O. Jones Park at 744 S 23rd St, Louisville, KY 40211 (Google Maps directions). Planning Partners:
Feb. 2 - March 29, 2025	Ecolympics 2025 February 2nd - March 29th Two fun sustainability competitions to get you engaged in saving our one green planet! Post your sustainable actions and tag @UofLSustainable or submit them through our online form to win the Grand Prize, or one of eight fabulous weekly prize baskets! Campus Race To Zero Waste! - February 2 - March 29, 2025 A friendly annual competition among North American universities. During this 8 week period, UofL will compete to reduce waste, increase recycling & composting, and raise conservation awareness across all three campuses! Keep up with the Cards progress at the Campus Race website. REDUCE, REUSE & RECYCLE! Help the Cards to victory by *avoiding disposables* (bring your own mug, bottle, plate, etc.), donating useful stuff to the UofL Free Store instead of throwing it away, and fully utilizing UofL’s amazingly easy, single-stream recycling system that lets you recycle everything in the same bin, everywhere on campus: all types of *plastic, paper, cardboard, metal, and glass! Details on what you can recycle at UofL here. COMPOST!* Turn trash into treasure just by composting your food scraps and soiled paper products in the compost bins at the Garden Commons next to the Baptist Center and the Urban & Public Affairs Garden behind Bettie Johnson Hall. Request a compost caddy for your room through our online request form! If it came from a plant, we want to compost it: *fruit & vegetable wastes/peels/rinds/seeds, baked goods, grains, tea bags, coffee grounds/filters, and all kinds of soiled paper products (tissues, towels, napkins, plates, cups, etc.). We are always collecting food wastes for composting from The Ville Grill, SAC Marketplace, and other campus dining locations and will be adding those numbers to UofL's organics recycling totals in the Campus Race to Zero Waste. Prizes:* Weekly prizes: At the end of each of the eight weeks of Ecolympics 2025, one person who has shared their sustainable action(s) will receive a themed gift basket! Grand Prize: One impressive Cardinal who takes the most sustainable actions during Ecolympics 2025 will take home our grand prize: a bicycle and helmet. Post your sustainable actions and tag @UofLSustainable or submit them through our online form throughout February & March to be entered into the competition! New winners will be picked each week! Enter as often as you can!
Every Sunday	UofL Community Composting Volunteer Days Every Sunday, Noon-2pm (Add to your Calendar) 250 E. Bloom St. (block north of Cardinal Blvd. between Brook & Floyd Streets, map) Come help us turn “trash” into treasure as we manage UofL’s volunteer-powered community composting operation. Dress to get dirty. Tools provided. Learn about worm composting and becoming a UofL EcoRep! All participants are welcome to haul home some rich UofL compost for gardening projects in your own containers/vehicle. This is a weekly service opportunity throughout the year. Contact: Brian Barnes, 502-338-1338.
Jan. 16 - April 24, 2025	Spring Garden Gatherings Mondays, 1pm at the Garden Commons (northeast of the Baptist Center) Thursdays, 5pm at the Urban & Public Affairs Garden & Greenhouse (426 W. Bloom St., behind Bettie Johnson Hall) UofL’s organic campus gardens are great places to relax, reconnect, learn, and savor the sweet taste of sustainability! Students, faculty, staff, and the public are all welcome to come experience the thrill of turning tiny seeds into an abundance of hyper-local veggies, herbs, fruit & flowers. Stop by anytime to sample the goodness and help us keep things watered and weeded. We will gather weekly at both of our campus food gardens throughout the spring semester to harvest, weed, water & plant. Monthly hands-on Garden Workshops will also be offered at these times. Tools and gloves provided. Everyone who comes is welcome to share in the harvest! Connect with us and get all the details on Facebook or Instagram. Facebook Event.
April 2, 2025	Movie Night: Princess Mononoke Wednesday, April 2nd, 6pm, SAC Floyd Theater, Add to Calendar Join the UofL Sustainability Council for our Spring Into Sustainability Film Series with a free screening of Princess Mononoke, the epic anime masterpiece from Hayao Miyazaki about the clash between humans and nature. On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime. PG-13 ‧ 1997 ‧ Fantasy/Adventure ‧ 2h 13m
April 3-4, 2025	Stories of Place Bingham Faculty Fellowship Symposium Thursday, April 3rd, 9am-3:45pm, BAB 206 Friday, April 4th, 9:30-11:45am, BAB 218 This symposium explores how stories of place shape our values, sense of belonging, and interactions with natural and built environments. Presented by the Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society. All are welcome.
April 5, 2025	Pop-Up Drop-Off Community Recycling Event Saturday, April 5th, 10am-2pm, UofL Shelby Campus (440 N Whittington Pkwy), Pop-Up Drop-Offs are free recycling and large item disposal events for residents of Jefferson County. Accepted Items: Up to 3 electronic items (recycled) Metal & appliances, no refrigerators or any items containing coolant (recycled) Up to 4 passenger tires (recycled) Household recyclables, follow curbside rules (recycled) Yard waste, follow curbside rules, wooden pallets (composted) Documents for shredding (recycled) Prescription medication (disposed properly) Gently used shoes will be collected for WaterStep - every 3 pairs of shoes collected provides safe water for 1 person for life! Items must already be separated into categories for easy off-loading so as much can be recycled as possible. This event sponsored by: Department of Public Works and Assets and the Louisville/Jefferson County Waste Management District.More info.
April 7, 2025	Pollinator Party! Monday, April 7th, 12-2:30pm, Garden Commons, Add to your Calendar Join us in UofL's Garden Commons next to the Baptist Center as we collaborate with the Engage.Lead.Serve Board (ELSB) Animal Welfare committee for our first ever Pollinator Party! This workshop will highlight the importance and diversity of pollinators, both native and non-native. Learn how we can make our communities better suited for their needs. We'll be getting our hands dirty to enhance pollinator habitat and plant native wildflower seeds. Come learn all about the important pollinators that populate our campus community, help us plant native flowers around the gardens, and make some pollinator-friendly crafts with us! Facebook Event.
April 8, 2025	Gender, Equity & Climate Justice Conference 2025 Thursday, April 8th, 10am-5pm, online, Add to your Calendar Register free here Join us for UofL's second annual Gender, Equity, & Climate Justice Conference, taking place virtually on April 8th. The Gender, Equity, & Climate Justice Conference is a day-long virtual conference focusing on gender, equity, and climate justice issues. Attendees will learn from campus and community leaders who are committed to challenging and working to dismantle patriarchy, and other systems of oppression. Attendees will be able to identify inclusive leadership approaches and key takeaways to advance social justice and climate justice efforts. This Conference provides a space to come together to learn, discuss, challenge, and unite for a more equitable future for all. The goals of the Conference are to: • Explore the dynamic shifts and innovations impacting our understanding of identity, equality, human rights, and climate change and creating a space for dialogue, learning and collaboration. • Identify inclusive leadership approaches and key takeaways to advance social justice and climate justice efforts. • Engage with thought leaders, activists, scholars, and advocates who are committed to challenging and working to dismantle patriarchy and other systems of oppression. The conference is organized by UofL's Women's Center, in partnership with UofL's Sustainability Council and many other organizations. Registration is open for attendees. We are inviting submissions from students (high school and college), faculty, staff, organizations, and community leaders. The deadline for submissions is March 17, 2025 by 11:59pm. Contact: Jamieca Jones.
April 8, 2025	Bee Green *Tuesday, April 8th, 5-6:30pm, Red Barn, Add to Calendar* On April 8th, ELSB's Green Initiatives and UofL's Sustainability Council will be co-hosting an educational workshop in partnership with Beeing2gether, a local black-owned honey and bee farm. Come learn about how our waste and carbon footprint are having a severe impact on our Earth and are detrimental to essential species that sustain us, specifically bees. Our guest speakers, Keith Griffith and UofL's Campus Apiarist, Gavin Phillips, will talk about the bee industry, how managing and taking care of bees works, how honey is produced, how climate change is impacting the bee population, and how our consumption of certain products is harmful. Come sample some of Keith's honey and enjoy bee-themed activities! Please bring your friends and let's "bee" educated on how protect our little friends!
April 12, 2025	Canoe Camping Trip on the Blue River Saturday, April 12th - Sunday, April 13th, $80 per person, Milltown, IN Escape the sickening assault on the senses, war-worshipping, and toxic air pollution of Thunder Over Louisville with a nature-bathing trip geared for paddling enthusiasts! We'll float down the beautiful Blue River through the forests of southern Indiana, just an hour west of Louisville. Camping will be at an established campground. All equipment and transportation provided. Spots are limited, so sign up today at the SRC front office M-F 9am-5pm.
April 16, 2025	Roundtable: Local Impacts of Federal Funding Shakeups Wednesday, April 16th, 11am-2pm, Centennial Room of the Main Branch of the Public Library(301 York St.) UofL's Urban & Public Affairs Student Association invites you to a special round table with local representatives discussing some of the many local impacts caused by the Trump administration's gutting of federal government funding and services. The Louisville Metro Office of Sustainability will be represented on the roundtable. Food & drink provided.
April 16, 2025	Picnic Concert in the Garden Wednesday, April 16th, 7-9pm, Garden Commons (next to Baptist Center) Join us for a relaxing evening in the garden! Listen to some awesome student musicians, enjoy some free drinks, and there will be popcorn available for donations to the Student Sustainability Coalition! Bring blankets, chairs, and friends! The rain location is SAC W117.
April 18, 2025	EcoReps Lunch & Learn Workshop: UofL Maple Syrup & Honey Pancake Party! Friday, April 18th, Noon-1pm, BAB 206 (Add to your Calendar) OR Join Microsoft Teams Meeting Join us for our monthly EcoReps workshop featuring locals making a difference in sustainability and a free vegetarian lunch! We'll wrap up the year with our annual celebration of our sweet sustainability harvests on campus, as we sample some of this year's maple syrup and honey harvests! Come enjoy some pancakes with our very own local sweetness. All are welcome. You'll also learn about tapping UofL maple trees to make syrup and raising honeybees on campus! The Sustainability Council’s EcoReps program is designed to move students, faculty & staff beyond talk to action for a more sustainable UofL! We provide basic training & resources, service opportunities, and leadership positions as a point-person & peer-to-peer advocate for sustainability. More info on EcoReps website. Facebook Event.
April 19, 2025	Restore: Healthy Planet, Healthy Us Saturday, April 19th, 10am-4pm, Bernheim Forest & Arboretum (2075 Clermont Rd, Clermont, KY 40110) The Circle of Harmony and Health is the official event passport. UofL's Sustainability Council is thrilled to be a part of this exciting Earth Day event out at Bernheim! Caring for the land and our planet is joyful, delightful, and rewarding – it benefits the heart, mind, and soul. As a shared experience, rooted in connection, we thrive in this work when we are in flow with our community! This event is about community, and we’ve updated the tagline from Healthy Planet, Healthy You to Healthy Planet, Healthy Us. Celebrate the beauty of Mother Earth with us! Experience a day filled with unique activities that inspire hope, joy, and well-being. Embrace the spirit of spring through self-care, educational experiences, and sustainable practices—because our planet deserves a healthy us! Activities at this free, ticketless event include: Come to Restore in your best thrifted, mended or hand-me-down outfit!Barret Babes, a local thrift store on Barrett Avenue, will be giving away FREE clothes, showcasing upcycle couture, and more. Science and STEAM education for the whole family! Showstopping science and chemistry experiments with the STEAM Chemist, Jerald Smith. Electric bike rentals with Pedego Bikes Kick off the growing season with a native tree giveaway and the opportunity to purchase herbs from Bernheim’s horticulture team. Garden Conversations: Local gardeners will share information and inspiration with visitors on the garden projects in their own backyards. DIY allergen-friendly bird feeders with food allergy and disability advocate, Invisibly Allergic Drop-in yoga sessions with Dariana Salinas. Also translated in Spanish. Cooking demos by Mexican eatery, FOKO, and Chef Eneitra Beattie, (Chef E), from Greenz N Tingz. Hands-on Nature Discovery Stations with the Bernheim Volunteer Naturalists Arts and Craft activities Climate Conversations with students from the University of Kentucky Meet and greet with 2025 Environmental Artist in Residence, Emanuel Zarate Ortiz. Drawing for a little free library built by Bernheim staff Create your own Poetry for the Planet inspired by nature. Community Partners and Vendors include: Beargrass Thunder • Bri Weaves • Bullitt County Health Department • Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences (CIEHS) • Circle of Health and Harmony • City Tilth and Trees, LLC • Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve • Duck Duck Goose Louisville • Elliott Brothers Farm • Food Literacy Project • University of Louisville Sustainability Council • Kentucky American Indian Resource and Community Center • Kentucky Resources Council • KIPDA • Louisville Tool Library • Save Bernheim Now Coalition • AHHA and Collective Wellness and Spa • Black Azz Camping & Jr. Black Campers • Nu Chapter Tai Chi • Kynect Resources • Louisville Grows • Louisville Free Public Library • Change Today, Change Tomorrow • Foxing Books • Peace of the Earth Refillery • Dark Sky Kentucky • Bullitt County Extension Office • Equid Branches Wellness Services
April 19, 2025	Brightside Sweep & Sip at UofL Saturday, April 19th, 11am-1pm, UofL Athletics Practice Fields, Add to your Calendar Brightside, UofL Athletics, and the UofL Sustainability Council invite you to help pick up litter while you meet new people, discover new areas of our community, and enjoy local beverages as UofL plays host to Brightside's Sweep & Sip event series! In partnership with local breweries and coffee shops, Sweep & Sips are a great way to help bright and clean up our city. We'll meet up on Saturday at 11am at the University of Louisville practice fields to grab a free cup of Sunergos coffee before heading out to pick up litter with UofL Student Athletes. Register here.
April 22, 2025	Earth Day Extravaganza Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22nd, 11am-2:30pm, Red Barn and SAC Plaza The Student Activities Board's Engaging Issues committee presents an Earth Day Extravaganza focused on sustainability. Come learn from and engage with a variety of sustainability partners, with interactive activities for students to learn while having a great time. Final details TBA, but activities will tentatively include Planting Plants, Composting, and a Reusable Tote Make-N-Take.
April 22, 2025	HRtalks Wellness for Earth Day: Sustainable Eating Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22nd, 1-2pm, Microsoft Teams - Register here. Join Get Healthy Now, UofL's Sustainability Council, and local organic CSA farmer Keith from Knob Hill Farms to celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd at 1pm. This session will dive into the importance of eating local and organic this season and reducing our carbon footprint by utilizing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Don't miss this opportunity to learn how you can support local agriculture, care for mother earth, and enhance your wellness journey. Get Healthy Now participants can earn 100 points toward their 2026 $40 GHN monthly incentive for attending. Register here.
May 19, 2025	Serviceberry Foraging Workshop Monday, May 19th, 1pm, Garden Commons (NE corner of Baptist Center), Add to your Calendar Bring a pail or Tupperware and get ready to load up on the sweetest "secret" right under our noses! Serviceberries (aka Juneberries) are native to Kentucky (and 48 states!). They are planted all over the city as a common, low-maintenance street tree. The fruits are ripe for only two weeks around June 1st. They are similar to blueberries but a little bit nutty (the trees are in the almond family!). UofL's campus boasts many loaded serviceberries and during this special workshop, we will walk around to visit many of them! Pick and take home as many as you can. Enjoy them fresh or freeze them for pies and smoothies year-round! Meetup at the Garden Commons and we'll go from there. For inspiration, read Robin Wall Kimmerer's deeply insightful essay, The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance . Facebook Event.
July 23 - 27, 2025	The 45th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking Wednesday, July 23rd - Sunday, July 27th, Davidson Hall, Registration required. The world is swiftly changing, and with each day the pace quickens. The pressure to respond intensifies. The problems we now face, and will increasingly face, require a radically different form of thinking that is more complex, more adaptable, and more sensitive to divergent points of view than traditional thought outfitted for routine and automation. The world now requires that we continually relearn, rethink our decisions, and reevaluate how we work and live. In short, the power of the mind to command itself – to regularly engage in self-analysis and self-evaluation – increasingly determines the quality of our work, learning, and lives. Join us for the world's longest-running critical thinking conference, led by world-renowned experts on the Paul-Elder Approach to Critical Thinking – to date the most comprehensive and robust framework for the analysis, assessment, and improvement of human reasoning ever created. We learn critical thinking by practicing it. Therefore, look forward to dynamic interactions at the conference as you work the ideas of critical thinking into your reasoning framework through discussion and activities. Expect rich interactive sessions filled with stimulating dialogue and exercises, as well as concepts and tools you can immediately apply to your work, life, learning, and teaching. See testimonials for more on what to expect. Brought to you by the Foundation for Critical Thinking. Register here.
Nov. 15, 2025	Pop-Up Drop-Off Community Recycling Event *Saturday, Nov. 15th, 10am-2pm, UofL Shelby Campus (440 N Whittington Pkwy),* Pop-Up Drop-Offs are free recycling and large item disposal events for residents of Jefferson County. Accepted Items: Up to 3 electronic items (recycled) Metal & appliances, no refrigerators or any items containing coolant (recycled) Up to 4 passenger tires (recycled) Household recyclables, follow curbside rules (recycled) Yard waste, follow curbside rules, wooden pallets (composted) Documents for shredding (recycled) Prescription medication (disposed properly) Gently used shoes will be collected for WaterStep - every 3 pairs of shoes collected provides safe water for 1 person for life! Items must already be separated into categories for easy off-loading so as much can be recycled as possible. This event sponsored by: Department of Public Works and Assets and the Louisville/Jefferson County Waste Management District.More info.