by Veronica Gockenbach '14

As part of Knox College's initiative to promote environmental awareness, Knox Advocates for Recycling and Environmental Support (KARES) will launch Earth Week, a weeklong series of interactive workshops, lectures, demonstrations, and other activities in celebration of Earth Day, which is April 22. Earth Week is April 20-26.

Knox students, faculty, and staff, as well as members of the surrounding community, are invited to participate.

Special events include a lecture by EquiKnox speaker and investigative journalist Kelsey Timmerman about food sources and being a consumer in our global economy, and a discussion session with Louise Harrison, sister of former Beatle George Harrison, about environmental activism. 

Timmerman is an investigative reporter on globalization and author of Where Am I Eating? and Where Am I Wearing? His first book, Where Am I Eating, focuses on the farmers and fishermen who provide the food we eat and how consumers' habits affect them.

Louise Harrison, an environmental activist, is founder of DROP (Determine to Restore Our Planet), which addresses environmental concerns such as the widespread use of health-threatening chemicals.

KARES will cap off Earth Week on Saturday, April 26, with the Earth Day Festival, beginning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the recently completed high tunnels, which will house crops for the campus and community. (Photo at top of page: The 2013 Earth Day Festival at Knox.)

The festival will include local music and booths with area vendors and artisans and is free and open to the public. It will feature various sustainable organizations from the Galesburg community, farmers from the Galesburg Farmers Market, and Knox clubs and organizations. There will be free snacks, lawn activities, henna, plant-potting, and tie-dye. The festival will conclude with a tree planting at 3 p.m.

Below is a schedule of Earth Week activities:

• Sunday, April 20
Galesburg Beautification. Led by KARES and Pi Beta Phi, participants will divide into small groups and pick up trash and recyclables in downtown Galesburg and the areas surrounding campus. Open to the public and members of the Knox community. Participants should meet at 1 p.m. the Gizmo Patio.

• Monday, April 21
Less Meat Monday. Knox students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to stop by Seymour Gallery to compete in the Meatless Haiku Competition. Prizes will be awarded, and winners' entries will be displayed on the KARES board in Seymour Gallery.

• Tuesday, April 22
Craft Day. Participants will learn how to turn trash and recyclables into art. Meet in Taylor Student Lounge at 4:15 p.m.

Spring EquiKnox speaker, investigative journalist Kelsey Timmerman. Timmerman, author of "Where am I Eating?," will speak about food sources and global consumerism. His discussion will be at 7 p.m. in Kresge Recital Hall, Ford Center for the Fine Arts. The lecture is sponsored by the Cultural Events Committee and Eleanor Stellyes Center for Global Studies with support from the Office of Sustainability, Garden Club, KARES, and Amnesty International.

• Wednesday, April 23
Green Career Panel. Chuck Young, coordinator of the biofuels manufacturing technology program at Carl Sandburg College; Kristy Howell, director of sustainability at the Sustainable Business Center; and Froggi VanRiper, director of campus sustainability initiatives at Knox College, will speak on bringing sustainability to any job. Organized by the Bastian Family Career Center at Knox, the event begins at 6:30 p.m. in Ferris Lounge.

• Thursday, April 24
"Drop In with Louise Harrison." Environmental activist Louise Harrison, who founded DROP in the 1960s, will discuss the benefits of working together for change and describe her experiences with environmental activism. Her remarks begin at 7 p.m. in the Alumni Room of Old Main. This event is sponsored by KARES.

• Friday, April 25
5-Minute Skill Share. Open to the Knox community and the public, this event features speakers who will talk about their skills and passions in brief, five-minute presentations. The event begins at 4 p.m. on the Gizmo patio.

Sustainable Cookout. Co-sponsored by Tau Kappa Epsilon, this event is open to Knox students and will start at 5:30 p.m. on the Post Lawn. RSVP at the KARES table between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. in Seymour Gallery or to Dani Hill at dhill@knox.edu.

• Saturday, April 26 
Ribbon-cutting ceremony at the high tunnels. This event will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Academy Street between the Human Rights Center and Pi Beta Phi.

Earth Day Festival. Featuring local music and booths by sustainable community organizations from the Galesburg area, vendors from the Galesburg Farmers Market, and Knox clubs and organizations, the event is free and open to the public. The festival runs from noon to 3 p.m. on the Gizmo patio.