Events — UofL Sustainability

Events

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

All UofL Sustainability events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. What did I miss?! Check out our Past Events log.

Date	Event
March 22, 2026	Composting Service Project Sunday, March 22nd, noon-2pm, meetup at the Red Barn The Engage.Lead.Serve Board is organizing this volunteer day at UofL's Community Composting Project, just a couple blocks north of Belknap Campus. The project uses natural processes to convert food wastes from campus and across the community into rich, living soil that we use to grow new food in our campus gardens! We will meet in front of the Red Barn and then walk over together. We'll be doing heavy work outside, so please dress appropriately for the weather in clothing and shoes you don't mind getting dirty (waterproof boots are ideal). Bring your own water bottle to stay hydrated as we will be working up a sweat! RSVP on Engage.
Jan. 22 - May 28, 2026	Spring Garden Gatherings 2026 Mondays, 4pm at the Urban & Public Affairs Garden (426 W. Bloom St., behind Bettie Johnson Hall) Thursdays, 12:30pm at the Garden Commons (northeast of the Baptist Center) 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 (Jan. 22 - May 28) to plant, weed, water & harvest. Tools and gloves provided. Monthly hands-on Garden Workshops will also be offered at these times. Everyone who comes is welcome to share in the harvest! Connect with us and get all the details on Facebook or Instagram. Facebook Event.
March 26, 2026	Environmental Governance in China *Thursday, March 26th, 1pm, Ford Hall 305* As part of their spring speaker series, UofL's Center for Asian Democracy invites you for a conversation with Dr. Iza Ding, Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. This talk will center on Dr. Ding’s book “The Performative State: Public Scrutiny and Environmental Governance in China”, a study of contemporary Chinese environmental politics. In this book, she attempts to rethink how bureaucracies—and bureaucrats—interact with citizens. She also introduces the concept of “performative governance,” a mode of administration that prizes public impressions over policy impact, and shows it at play in China's environmental governance. Dr. Ding’s research focuses on environmental politics, climate change, bureaucracy, and nationalism. Her research specializes in the fields of European and Asian politics. Lunch will be provided, and the event will be livestreamed for those that cannot attend in person.
March 27, 2026	EcoReps Lunch & Learn Workshop: Kentucky Environmental Legislation Friday, March 27th, Noon-1pm, Center for Belonging, Access & Engagement (Belknap Village North room 176) OR Join Microsoft Teams Meeting Join us for our monthly EcoReps workshop featuring locals making a difference in sustainability and a free vegetarian lunch! Our featured speaker for March is Byron Gary, Program Attorney at the Kentucky Resources Council (KRC). He holds a degree in political science and philosophy from the University of Louisville, and a J.D. from UofL's Brandeis School of Law. During his time in law school, Byron was the President of the Environmental Law and Land Use Society and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Animal and Environmental Law. Before joining KRC, he worked at the Louisville Public Defender and the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, where he was responsible for regulation development. Byron is the current Chair of the Environmental Law Section of the Kentucky Bar Association, and serves on the Boards for the University of Louisville Superfund Center and Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences Community Engagement Cores. 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.
March 28, 2026	Mountain Biking Saturday, March 28th, 9am-3pm, Cherokee Park Join Campus Recreation and the UofL Sustainability Council on a morning bike ride to Cherokee Park and explore the mountain biking trails within the Park. Riders are encouraged to bring their own mountain bikes as our supply is limited, but if you need a bike, this ride is free and all equipment will be provided. Spots are limited. Middle of Town Cycling is sponsoring this ride and will be offering a $20 gift card to the first 10 riders to register and all participants will receive free water bottles and hats! Registration required.
March 28, 20226	Tree Planting with TreesLouisville Saturday, March 28th, 10am-12:30pm, Hawthorne Elementary School (2301 Clarendon Ave) The Engage. Lead. Serve. Board's Green Initiatives committee invites you to a service day with TreesLouisville. Help us plant new trees at Hawthorne Elementary School. All training and tools will be provided. Dress to get dirty. Closed toed shoes required. RSVP on Engage.
Feb. 1 - March 28, 2026	Ecolympics 2026 February 1st - March 28th 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 the fabulous weekly prize baskets! Campus Race To Zero Waste! - February 1 - March 28, 2026 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. RECYCLE E-WASTE!* Don't send your old electronics to the landfill! We will have special collection points set up in the following locations Feb. 18 - March 13: BAB (1st floor lobby) SAC W310 Duthie Center at Speed School of Engineering (1st floor Study Area, SE corner) HSC Kornhauser Library (1st floor lobby behind elevators) >> There will also be a special Drive-up Drop-off Collection on Thursday Feb. 26th, 8am-11am on the north side of the Clinical & Translational Research Building at HSC. Due to rain, this year we will be loading items into the box truck for recycling at the CTR Loading Dock (618 E Muhammad Ali Blvd). The contact for the Drive-up Drop-off is Skip Hurley (502) 599-6228. Stop by any time to drop off any of the following types of electronics for recycling: all computers, monitors, televisions, printers, copiers, scanners, servers, networking equipment, fax machines, telephones and cellphones, RAM/memory, hard drives, battery backups, and peripherals such as keyboards, mice, speakers, AC adapters, and mixed computer cables/wires. Separate bins will also be available for recycling of any type of batteries, lamps/bulbs, or ink/toner cartridges. Resident Race! - February 9 - March 1, 2026 *Live on campus? Win with conservation!* UofL residence halls will compete among each other to see who can reduce electricity use the most over three weeks. The winning hall will earn a pizza party, sponsored by RHA! All you have to do is stop wasting energy! Turn off lights, fans, space heaters, TVs, game consoles, etc.; unplug anything you're not actively using (especially empty refrigerators); skip the elevator for the stairs; close windows tightly; wait until you have a full load to do laundry & wash with cold water; dry clothes on a rack/line; take shorter showers or shower with solar power at the SRC; etc. Keep up with the Race on UofL's Building Dashboard, where you can see how much electricity your hall is using and learn how you can conserve! Halls in the competition include: Bettie Johnson Hall Community Park (real-time data!) Kurz Hall (real-time data!) Louisville Hall (real-time data!) Unitas Hall (real-time data!) University Tower Apartments (UTA) Belknap Village North Belknap Village South Prizes: Weekly prizes: At the end of each of the eight weeks of Ecolympics, 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 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! Ecolympics Events: Upcycled Valentine Workshop Tuesday, Feb. 10th, 12:30-2pm, SAC W118A T-shirt Bag Workshop Tuesday, March 3rd, 1-2:30pm, UofL Free Store (Honors House 108)
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.
Feb. 18 - Apr. 1 , 2026	Spring Bike Repair Workshop Series Alternate Wednesdays, Feb. 18th to April 1st, 4-6pm UofL Bike Shop (basement of the UPA Building. 426 W Bloom St.) Want to learn how to fix and maintain your bike to keep it rolling as the spring weather warms? Join us for a free spring series of hands-on workshops focused on different topics every other Wednesday from 4-6pm! Workshops will be held at the UofL Bike Shop in the basement of the Urban & Public Affairs building (426 W. Bloom St.).You do not need to be present for each session, and you're welcome to drop-in any time from 4-6pm. Our goal is to teach how to fix some specific issues then to allow participants to really practice their skills on multiple bikes! Please sign-up here if you are interested in participating. Our planned sessions will be: Feb. 18 - Wheels and Tires March 4 - Brakes and Cables March 18 - Chains and Derailleurs April 1 - Grips n' Stuff (small parts) We are also offering regular Shop Hours every Monday and Wednesday from noon-2pm if you have a bike that needs repair, please come in and you'll be able to access tools and guidance from our experienced mechanics!
April 4, 2026	Three Bridges Trail Hike Saturday, April 4th, 9am-5pm, Olive Hill, KY, $20 per person. Join Campus Recreation for this Appalachian hike! At just over three miles in length, Three Bridges Trail in Carter Caves State Resort Park is a fantastic trail with beautiful, interesting rock formations. The route stops by three of the park's natural rock bridges: Smoky Bridge (the largest), the Raven Bridge, and the Fern Bridge. Registration required.
April 4, 2026	Horner Wildflower Walk Saturday, April 4th, noon-2pm, UofL's Horner Bird & Wildlife Sanctuary (Crestwood, Oldham Co.) Experience the beauty of early spring wildflowers on hikes guided by faculty and students from the UofL Biology Department at the Horner Sanctuary in Crestwood. April is the time for brilliant spring ephemeral wildflowers. There will be a longer guided hike (~1hr) and shorter guided walking experiences on trails and roads through the property. Participants will also meet faculty from Anthropology, Archeology and Geography. All ages are welcome and there is no charge to participate. Registration required (30 person max.)
April 17, 2026	EcoReps Lunch & Learn Workshop: UofL Maple Syrup & Honey Pancake Party! Friday, April 17th, Noon-1pm, Location TBD 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.
April 22, 2026	Earth Day 2026 Wednesday, April 22nd, 11am-1pm, Red Barn Plaza The Student Activities Board and UofL Sustainability Council invite you to celebrate the end of the semester and the 57th anniversary of Earth Day! Full details TBA, but you can expect sustainable prizes, farm to table food, potted plants to take home, and great information about how to get engaged in the movement to save ourselves by saving Mother Earth!
April 24, 2026	Sustainability Roundtable : Opportunities and Challenges in Urban Farming Friday, April 24th, noon-1pm, Microsoft Teams Join the Sustainability Roundtable for Green Within Gray: Opportunities and Challenges in Urban Farming. Discussants will include: • Joe Trigg, Co-founder of My Farm Exchange • Justin Mog, Assistant to the Provost for Sustainability Initiatives, University of Louisville • Nicole Phillips, Urban Agriculture Program Coordinator, Louisville Metro Government Join Microsoft Teams meeting.
May 21, 2026	Serviceberry Foraging Workshop Thursday, May 21st, 12:30pm, Garden Commons (NE corner of Baptist Center) 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.
June 3, 2026	S.M.A.R.T. SummerFest 2026 Wednesday, June 3rd, 11:30am to 1:00pm, HSC Courtyard Stop by the UofL Sustainability Council / HSC Green Team's booth at the 5th annual S.M.A.R.T. (School of Medicine Advancement, Retention, and Training) SummerFest and earn your way toward a free ice cream cone! SummerFest is designed to be an engaging and informative experience for School of Medicine staff and everyone at HSC is welcome! In addition to a resource fair, attendees can enjoy music, a dessert social, door prize giveaways, and interactive activities. It's a fantastic opportunity for networking, learning, and community-building!

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

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