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
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 15, 2025	Tioga Falls Trail Hike *Saturday, March 15th, 12:30 - 3pm, Westpoint, KY* Join the UofL Botanical Society for their first hike of the semester! We'll meet up at 12:30pm at the Tioga Falls Trail Head on Louisville Nashville Turnpike in Westpoint, KY. If you need a ride to the trail please reach out to on the Botanical Society GroupMe. Friendly dogs and non-members are more than welcome to come along. Please bring some water and wear shoes you don't mind getting muddy. RSVP on Engage.
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.
March 19, 2025	Migrant Farm Workers: The Essential Work Force and Campaigns for Change Wednesday, March 19th, 4–5:15pm, Lutz Hall 232, Add to your Calendar 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. This event is brought to you by the Department of Anthropology, Latin American and Latino Studies, and the Anne Braden Institute.
March 20, 2025	2025 MINX AUERBACH LECTURE IN WOMEN’S, GENDER & SEXUALITY STUDIES Indigenous Feminisms and Relational Accountability: Pathways to Justice and Coalition-Building Thursday, March 20th, 5:30pm, Gheens Science Hall and Rauch Planetarium or stream online, Add to your Calendar Dr. Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner (Luiseño & Cupeño) is an Indigenous feminist philosopher and an associate professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is the founding director of the Indigenous Futures Lab, a pioneering hub for Indigenous feminist research and evaluation. A proud first-generation descendant of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, Dr. Meissner is of Luiseño (Payómkawichum) and Cupeño (Kupangaxwichem) descent. Dr. Meissner researches, teaches, and consults on topics including Indigenous research and evaluation methods, cultural and language reclamation, Indigenous epistemologies, Indigenous feminist interventions in critical social work, and land-based feminist coalition-building. Her work is deeply rooted in exploring the intersections of Indigenous knowledge systems, care-taking, power, and trauma. Free and open to the public. In-person or stream online. Interpreting Services are available by request only. Final day to request is March 10th.
March 21, 2025	10th Annual Engaged Scholarship Symposium Friday, March 21st, 8am-3pm, HSC Clinical & Translational Research Building, Registration required. UofL's Office of Community Engagement invites you to the 10th annual Engaged Scholarship Symposium, on the theme of Bridging the Public Divide through University-Community Partnerships. There is a divide between the university and the public. Universities are seen as distant, irrelevant, and generally not a part of the community. We need to demonstrate the connection between higher education and the public at large through, engaged-research, engaged-teaching, and outreach activities. The 2025 Engaged Scholarship Symposium seeks to explore the various ways higher education is bridging the divide with the public through the many collaborative projects occurring with faculty, staff, students, and the general public. Presentations will cover teaching, research, creative activities, and outreach projects that are helping to bridge the divide between the university and community. This year's Keynote Speaker is Bobbie Laur, President of Campus Compact, the nation’s largest national organization dedicated to higher education civic and community engagement. Bobbie’s passion, research, and work have been grounded in the place-based mission of higher education and the necessity of developing mutually beneficial partnerships to address the needs for the communities and neighborhoods in which universities and colleges are located. With deep experience in the institutionalization of community engagement and creating institution-wide strategies to advance the work, Bobbie has counseled and supported campuses throughout the country in creating sustainable structures and pathways to strengthen civic and community engagement. Bobbie previously served as the Executive Director of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities and held several administrative positions at San Diego State University and Towson University, including serving as the Associate Vice President for Outreach. Bobbie serves on a number of national and Baltimore-based boards that advocate for creating vibrant and healthy communities. Join us at 9:20am for the presentation of this year's Community Engagement Awards and UofL's Josh Smith Sustainability Award. Named in honor of a former student who volunteered in support of sustainability at his alma mater and then died unexpectedly, UofL established this annual award to recognize community members or groups whose collaboration advances UofL’s sustainability efforts. Recipients can be mentors, volunteers, collaborators, advocates, etc. This year's recipient will be honored during the kickoff to the Engaged Scholarship Symposium. See the full schedule here. Free breakfast and lunch will be provided. Registration required.
March 22, 2025	Beyond Waste Summit 2025 Saturday, March 22nd, 10am-5pm, Urban & Public Affairs room 123, Add to your Calendar Free for UofL Students, 2 for 1 registrations for students from other schools The University of Louisville is thrilled to be hosting our region's Beyond Waste Summit, organized by the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN). Join this hands-on & collaborative leadership intensive to explore sustainability topics with other students in Louisville! Register here. Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and other roleplaying games, Beyond Waste Summits have attendees portray students at the fictional “Emergence University” and work together to build conceptual campus sustainability projects. Students collaborate on activities like mapping key stakeholders, creating a social media strategy, and planning the logistics for an event. These encourage in-depth program planning, troubleshooting, and leadership development skills. At the end of the day, students present their work to a “Board of Trustees” and gain experience with both giving & receiving feedback. Emergence University students are super engaged in sustainability projects on campus. However, administration can sometimes act as a barrier to the type of systems change that students are calling for. In this simulation, students will rally interest from among the campus community and host an event to bring the Emergence University staff and President into making sustainable change. The project simulations highlighted in this event will be: Water Environmental Justice Creating an accessible reusable to-go program This event is co-hosted in-person by University of Louisville and the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN). For any questions, please email Savannah Robledo <savannah@postlandfill.org>. About the Post-Landfill Action Network: PLAN is a small but mighty nonprofit that supports student-led zero waste initiatives on college campuses. We provide an extensive library of digital resources, coordinate Fellowship programs, offer 1-on-1 advising on the creation of campus programs, inspire & connect through annual events, and more. This will be the 9th Beyond Waste Summit we have hosted since 2020! Learn more about PLAN. Facebook Event. Registration Required - Register here.
March 24, 2025	Movie Night: Don't Look Up Monday, March 24th, 6pm, SAC Floyd Theater, Add to your Calendar Join the UofL Sustainability Council for our Spring Into Sustainability Film Series with a free screening of Don't Look Up, the 2021 American apocalyptic political satire black comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Adam McKay. Two low-level astronomers must go on a giant media tour to warn humankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth...but nobody wants to hear it. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Timothée Chalamet, and Ariana Grande. Nominated for 4 Oscars. Rated R ‧ 2021 ‧ Comedy/Sci-fi ‧ 2h 18m
March 28, 2025	EcoReps Lunch & Learn Workshop: TreesLouisville Friday, March 28th, Noon-1pm, BAB 206 OR Join Microsoft Teams Meeting, Add to your Calendar Join us for our monthly EcoReps workshop featuring locals making a difference in sustainability and a free vegetarian lunch! On March 28th, our focus will be on the incredible work of the non-profit TreesLouisville. A healthy urban tree canopy offers a vast array of benefits to our city, from cooling shade and stormwater management to better mental health and community pride. Trees make our city more livable, healthy, and equitable. That's why, when a 2015 Urban Tree Canopy Assessment found that Louisville's tree canopy was rapidly declining, it was clear that it was time for action. Although various organizations have been involved in addressing particular aspects of Louisville's tree problem, TreesLouisville is singularly focused on preserving and expanding our community's tree canopy. They support and partner with like-minded organizations by combining energies and resources, facilitating projects and identifying new opportunities. All in an effort to reach their goal: tree canopy coverage of 45% over the next decade. 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 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!
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 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, $80 per person. Escape the sickening assault on the senses, war-worshipping, and toxic air pollution of Thunder of 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.
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	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 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.
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.
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.