Opportunities to Get Involved

From patching your own clothes to fixing your bike tire to repurposing your unused t-shirts into bags, come learn how to take matters into your own hands and do things for yourself! Kicking off Earth Week, the Right to Repair Workshop is a great way to learn how to live more sustainably.

Brought to you by the Center for Sustainability.

This event led by the Thrift Store and other graduate fellows at the Center for Sustainability and is designed to promote awareness regarding the environmental implications of fast fashion. The Fashion Fresk is not only a great opportunity for you to learn about strategies on how to positively contribute to a circular fashion model, but also an opportunity for you to get clothes mended on site, engage with students on sustainability topics, browse through our thrift store outfits, and enjoy beverages and snacks!

This workshop led by licensed clinical social worker and climate-aware therapist Kristen Greenwald, will offer a place for students and DU community members to learn, be heard, and share in community about feelings of anxiety, grief, fear, helplessness and overwhelm related to climate change and the biodiversity loss crisis. The workshop will offer strategies for resilience and resources, supporting students, staff, and faculty in feeling more empowered to take action in addressing global environmental change. 

Brought to you by EcoConscious.

The University of Denver is delighted to present a free screening of the film ‘Don’t Look Up’ that was co-written by David Sirota. Mr. Sirota will host a live Q & A with the audience immediately following the screening of the film. This highly acclaimed movie is a not-so-subtle parable about the threat that climate change poses to human civilization. The film simultaneously satirizes our government, our media, American anti-intellectualism, capitalism, and corporate greed. Mr. Sirota is an independent investigative journalist who pulls no punches in criticizing politicians on the left or right who embrace a neo-liberal agenda that neglects social, economic, or ecological justice. Sirota is a columnist at The Guardian, editor for Jacobin, author, television writer, and screenwriter. He is also a political commentator and radio host based in Denver. He is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, political spokesperson, and blogger. You are invited to enjoy this movie and interact with Mr. Sirota after the film.

Denver Public Library is partnering with the University of Denver to offer a 4-week lecture series featuring a different DU professor presenting on the theme of "Change" each Thursday in April. 2-3 pm at the Ross-University Hills branch library. 

Join Sarah Bexell, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Social Work and Faculty Director at the Center for Sustainability at the University of Denver as she presents:

Global Social Change: From Colonization to Creating Regenerative Futures

Sometimes the rate of social change these days can feel overwhelming, and at other times, too slow to dampen our existential dread of social and/or environmental apocalypse. Some days we may think that humanity can never change the destructive systems that seem to be hurtling us to extinction. In this presentation we will trace broad social changes since the colonial era and what catalyzed them, then focus on the active hope that drives contemporary social change, primarily driven by younger generations and traditional wisdom, and toward a regenerative and humane human presence on Earth.

Environmental art and activism in the Global North have long been known for employing modes such as “doom and gloom,” sanctimony, and sentimentality—modes which can overwhelm and alienate audiences. Nicole Seymour tells us a different story. Her lecture will begin by drawing on her book Bad Environmentalism to outline a neglected tradition of alternative art and activism: one that employs comedic modes such as irony, irreverence, and campiness to reflect critically on both our current moment of crisis and on mainstream environmentalism itself—including its whiteness and straightness. However, as she will describe in the second part of her talk, some cultural critics have since declared that comedic modes are in crisis. For instance, the satirical climate-fiction author Karl Taro Greenfeld has worried that the heightened absurdities of life in the 21st-century will quickly eclipse his writing. Meanwhile, a new online generation of white supremacists have been embracing comedic modes historically associated with the progressive Left. Where can comedy go from here? More specifically, what’s the future of bad environmentalism and other alternative approaches to environmental crisis? Seymour will conclude her lecture with a few predictions and possibilities. 

Register to attend in-person here.

Register to attend virtually here.

Experience the healing and wellness-promoting effects of shinrin-yoku, the practice of bathing the senses in the atmosphere of the forest. Led by LCSW and climate aware therapist Kristen Greenwald as a follow up to the eco-distress workshop on 4/18 (though anyone can join!), this will offer a time to immerse in nature to practice mindfulness and connect to the earth. The session will close with enjoying tea from the Earth and shared conversation. 

Brought to you by EcoConscious. 

Join the Center for Sustainability and celebrate a week of learning, creating, connecting, and "DU-ing" in the name of promoting ecological justice on campus and beyond. 

Pizza and beverages will be provided to those who engaged in volunteer projects throughout the week, light snacks will be available for all community members who stop by to celebrate. 

he Climate Fresk is a collaborative workshop that will teach you the fundamental science behind climate change and empower you to take action in a collaborative, interactive, and fun environment. It will take place on Saturday, April 22 in honor of Earth Day and will last from 12:00-3:00 PM. Join us in the Burwell Center Room 340 to participate, discuss one of the most pressing issues of our generation, and make connections with other climate enthusiasts! For more information about the Fresk and its design, you can visit the official Climate Fresk website here, or you can email Iris Stanfill (Iris.Stanfill@du.edu) for more information! 

DU IT and the Center for Sustainability are offering an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty to appropriately and responsibly recycle their old personal electronics (please refrain from bringing DU-owned equipment)! DU community members can bring their e-waste to Katharine Ruffatto Hall throughout Earth Week, between the hours of 4 and 6pm. 

Electronics are collected and recycled by Techno Rescue, a local veteran-owned IT company. Techno Rescue can recycle more than just TVs and computers. Most items with a cord or a battery are accepted, including: desktops, laptops, cell phones, tablets, gaming equipment, consumer electronics and more. Many of these technologies contain harmful elements such as lead, cadmium, cobalt, and lithium, so they can't be recycled through traditional methods.

Click "More Info" to learn more about what items are accepted and NOT accepted. Please note that NO ENTERPRISE EQUIPMENT (i.e., DU-owned) will be accepted. 

For more information about this opportunity, please contact: Cole.White@du.edu 

Join DU's "Alumni in Sustainability" group in caring for and connecting with our local natural environment! This project will involve cleaning up the park, mulching, painting, and weeding. 

Brought to you by Denver Parks & Rec and DU Alumni in Sustainability. 

Celebrate Earth Day with the Collegiate Recovery Program! As a group, we will brighten surrounding areas by cleaning, prepping, and planting in the Mindfulness Meditation Edible Garden. Take this opportunity to meet like-minded classmates, staff, and faculty, and to become an ally of people in recovery, and friends and family affected by addiction/substance use disorder.

Join our neighbors in cleaning up Prairie Park, along Buchtel Boulevard! 

Dig into sustainability education and community action by collaborating with Ricks Center students, ages 3-13, in the garden! We are waking up our food garden for a new year of growth. Garden produce goes to Ricks Center garden to table program as well as Metro Caring’s food justice program. Tasks include clearing out last year’s plant refuse, loosening soil, composting and planting alongside students. We’ll also put a fresh coat of paint on the raised garden boxes to prep for student painting. We look forward to working with you as we get our hands dirty in the garden!

Celebrate Earth Day with Eco-Cycle! As a group, we will brighten DU's campus and surrounding areas by collecting litter. Litter cleanup events are an immediate, simple, and noticeable way to help our shared environment. Take this opportunity to meet like-minded classmates and engage Eco-Cycle on all things Zero Waste.

Boulder-based Eco-Cycle is one of the largest and oldest non-profit recycling organizations. Eco-Cycle's Campaigns Coordinator, Ryan Call, graduated from DU with a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Management in 2021, where he focused on waste-related policy issues. Learn more at ecocycle.org and follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Help the DU Bridge Community Garden with garden clean-up tasks like transferring compostable plant materials to a compost dumpster, spreading leaf mulch, fixing garden bed border bricks, weeding, organizing the tool shed, and more! Snacks will be provided.

Come help the Center for Sustainability's Thrift Store get ready for this year's Move Out event! As a volunteer, you will get to: 

• Help organize/sorting our current back stock and storage space in Centennial Towers, sorting through items to determine what we think will sell at the store, what needs to be donated to a local nonprofit, and what needs to be discarded.
• Potentially move items from our storage space in Towers to the store in Centennial Halls 
• Get to take home one item from the space as a "thank you" from the Center (there is a lot of nice stuff in there!)
• Help advance and promote promote sustainable and regenerative practices on campus, including advancing a circular economy that is less harmful to humans, other species, and the planet.

DU IT will be offering an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty to turn in e-waste for safe and appropriate recycling! Volunteers are needed to help ensure this process runs smoothly each day throughout Earth Week. Volunteers will be expected to: 

• Collect E-Waste items from DU community members.
• Note waste type (IE cellphone, laptop, vacuum etc.)
• Check to make sure waste is not a DU Enterprise item. (Cross referencing service tags with DU owned device list)
• Organize waste items after collection (Smart technology , household appliances etc.)
• Ensure vendor collects all items at pickup