Events

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
Feb. 1-28, 2026	Black History Month Film Series Every Saturday in February at 1pm in the Parkland Library (2743 Virginia Ave) The Black History Month Film Series will be held at the Parkland Library (2743 Virginia Ave) every Saturday in February 2026. This free series is presented in partnership with UofL's HSC Office of Health Equity and Engagement and features a panel discussion led by UofL faculty following each film. Learn more here. Upcoming films include: Little Richard: I Am Everything Saturday, February 28, 1:00 PM The narrative takes a deep dive into the life and legacy of Richard Wayne Penniman, better known to the public by his charismatic stage persona, Little Richard. With his signature flamboyance and positive attitude, Little Richard rose to fame in the mid-1950s when he innovated a new musical genre that combined rock and roll sounds with soul and funk rhythms. NR (1h 38m) \| ©2023
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.
March 2, 2026	Seed-Starting Workshop Monday, March 2nd, 4pm, Urban & Public Affairs Greenhouse (426 W. Bloom St.) Get a jump-start on your food garden this year! Join us in the greenhouse at the garden behind Urban & Public Affairs, 426 W. Bloom St. (west of Bettie Johnson Hall) to learn about starting seeds to save money, get better results, and make the most of the growing season. Learn how and why to start seeds early with this hands-on workshop. Feel free to bring your own seeds to start and take home to your windowsill, or help us start some seeds to be planted out in our Campus Gardens. This is part of the spring series of Garden Workshops hosted by the Garden Commons, a shared, collectively-managed space, open to participation any time from students, staff, faculty, and community members. Everyone who comes is welcome to share in the harvest! Facebook Event.
March 3, 2026	T-shirt Bag Workshop Tuesday, March 3rd, 1-2:30pm, UofL Free Store (Honors House 108) The UofL Sustainability Council invites you out during Ecolympics 2026 for a fun afternoon of crafting with us! We will be upcycling old t-shirts from the UofL Free Store (or feel free to bring your own) to make shoulder bags using a method that requires no sewing! Then we'll use paints to decorate. This is an Ecolympics 2026 event! Take a selfie at the event and be sure to post your sustainable actions and tag @UofLSustainable or submit them through our online form to be entered to win the Grand Prize, or one of eight fabulous weekly prize baskets throughout Ecolympics from Feb. 1 - March 28! The more actions you take, the greater your chances of winning! Facebook Event.
Feb. 18 - Apr. 1	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!
March 3, 2026	Downtown Night Walk Tuesday, March 3rd, 6pm, Urban Design Studio (429 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd) How do we make downtown a 24-hour neighborhood that is inviting and exciting for everyone? Our surroundings impact people in different ways, and reshaping downtown into a vibrant place for all will be much better if we take the time to understand different viewpoints, observations, and experiences. The UofL Urban Design Studio is partnering with the Mayor’s Office for Women and the Louisville Downtown Partnership, through our Society of Urban Perambulators (SoUP) program, to help highlight differences and possibilities for how women and gender diverse individuals perceive and engage public spaces, which includes our parks and city streets. Operating on the premise that everyone—including women—has a right to the city and a right to go out and enjoy the night, this walk will allow us to explore together how public space can be welcoming, safe and inclusive for all. Join us at the UofL Urban Design Studio at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, March 3^rd for a brief discussion about the Downtown Open Space Network initiative and public spaces before we head out for an engaging 1.5 mile walking tour of downtown, with opportunities to hear about initiatives and developments in the public realm along the way including Louisville Downtown Partnership’s CitySpots initiative, the Belvedere redevelopment project, the Greenprint initiative, and more. This event is free and open to the public, however, to keep the walking tour a manageable crowd size and have enough snacks on hand, please RSVP with Patrick Piuma via email at your earliest convenience. As with all SoUP events, there is the option at the end of the tour to congregate at a local watering hole for participants to extend the discussion, this time at Parlay, a great neighbor across the street from the Urban Design Studio. ‍
March 4, 2026	Migrant Farm Workers: The Essential Work Force Wednesday, March 4th, 5:30pm, Shumaker Research Building room 139 Farmworkers are the root of our supply chain and ensure our food's availability, quality, and safety. Even though they were recognized as essential during the pandemic, 2.6 million farm workers in the United States remain federally excluded from most labor laws, such as the right to unionize and to receive overtime pay and remain among the poorest workers in the country. Join us to learn about the risks farm workers face, their organizations, and their efforts to obtain a living wage and a safe, respectful workplace. Our guest speaker will be Felix Garza from the National Farm Worker Ministry. Sponsored by the Anne Braden Institute, Latin American and Latino Studies, and the Department of Anthropology.
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)
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 9-25, 2026	Great American Road Trip - Mount Rushmore and the Black Elk Wilderness March 9th-15th, 2026, Keystone, South Dakota, $120 per person. Join Campus Recreation for a multi-day road trip to Mount Rushmore National Monument and spend time hiking and camping in the Black Elk Wilderness. This trip involves primitive camping, hiking, and spectacular views of National Monuments. Registration required.
March 20, 2026	2026 Engaged Scholarship Symposium Friday March 20th, 9am-3pm, Founders Union (UofL's Shelby Campus) This annual event brings together students, faculty, and community partners in a day of programming focusing on collaborative efforts for engaged research, teaching and outreach. The program will include a presentation of this year's Outstanding Community Engagement Awards and the Josh Smith Memorial Sustainability Award for a community partner who has made significant contributions to UofL's sustainability initiatives. Breakfast and lunch included in free registration. Keynote Speaker: Byron White For more than two decades, Dr. White was a higher education administrator spearheading community engagement initiatives at public and private urban universities. Most recently, he was Associate Provost for Urban Research at UNC Charlotte, where he developed and led a unit called urbanCORE (Community-Oriented Research and Engagement) that facilitated award-winning engaged research partnerships between faculty and community partners. Previously, he was Vice President for University Engagement at Cleveland State University, Vice Chancellor for Economic Development for the University System of Ohio, and the founding Executive Director of the Eigel Center for Community-Engaged Learning at Xavier University in Cincinnati. In addition to his work in higher education, Dr. White led community-based, collective impact organizations in Chicago and Cincinnati. He began his career as a newspaper journalist, serving as the Urban Affairs Team Editor and an Editorial Writer for the Chicago Tribune, where he eventually became Senior Manager for Community Relations, and as the Editorial Page Editor of The Cincinnati Post. Dr. White holds a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in social science from the University of Chicago. He is author of the forthcoming book, The Community-Centric Path to Rebuilding Trust in Higher Education, to be published in May 2026 by Routledge and Campus Compact. Free Registration Required.
March 20, 2026	Sustainability Roundtable: Environment and Public Health – Envirome Projects Friday, March 20th, noon-1pm, Microsoft Teams Join UofL's Sustainability Roundtable for this vital conversation about research efforts into the Environment and Public Health being led by UofL's Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute. On March 20th, we will be in conversation with two presenters from the Envirome Institute: Dr. Lauren Anderson, Program and Research Manager Dr. Lauren Anderson, Program and Research Manager at UofL's Center for Healthy Air Water and Soil in the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute at the School of Medicine. Lauren earned her PhD in Urban & Public Affairs and her master’s degree in Public Administration from the UofL and is a Research Management Professional. As a Program Manager, Lauren specializes in leading collaborative teams through community-facing projects and clinical trials. She has a particular interest in project communication and research translation with a focus on environmental and wellbeing research. Lauren has managed portfolios for the Institute for Healthy Air Water and Soil, a Louisville-based environmental nonprofit, the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness. Prior to joining Public Health, Lauren worked for Louisville Metro Community Services and received her Bachelor of Arts from Transylvania University in Lexington. Sean Willis, Research Tech II at the Urban Design Studio Sean Willis has served as a research technologist with the Urban Design Studio since 2023. He has gained extensive experience with GIS and Louisville's tree canopy while working for TreesLouisville and the Division of Urban Forestry. He is currently in the Masters of Urban Planning graduate program at UofL. Sean grew up in Hikes Point and developed a passion for urban planning due to his aversion to cars, and the challenges that brought living in Louisville. Traveling to cities such as Washington D.C. and Chicago fueled the flames of this passion, after seeing the differences in urban design. A love for urban planning and a strong interest in technology led him to the GIS field. Facebook Event. Join virtual meeting here.
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.
March 26, 2026	Environment & Governance in China *Thursday, March 26th, TENTATIVELY: 1pm, Ford Hall 305* As part of their spring speaker series, UofL's Center for Asian Democracy proudly presents professor Iza Ding of Northwestern University, who will be lecturing on Environment & Governance in China. Full details TBA.
March 27, 2026	EcoReps Lunch & Learn Workshop: Topic TBA 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 speaker and topic for March will be announced soon. 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.
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. Free and all equipment provided, but spots are limited. 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.
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 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!
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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UofL Sustainability

Keynote Speaker: Byron White