The Earth Centre is proud to be a partner in GREENFEST, a campus-wide celebration of sustainability at Queen’s, from March 4th to March 8th.
Its 5 themed days – Energy & Climate, Waste Diversion, Food & Water, Transportation, and Sustainability Education – provide participants with 5 ways to live more sustainably
both on campus and at home.
We are hosting events throughout the week, so be sure to check out some of the green action!
More information on the greenfest website
The Earth Centre is teaming up with the SGPS sustainability committee to bring you the screening of SWITCH – an agenda-free documentary about the future of energy.
No charge for admission, and there will be FREE PIZZA!
Check out the trailer, and see you at Ellis Auditorium, on Monday, March 4th at 6pm!
Interested in issues pertaining to the environment and sustainability? Looking to connect with like-minded people on campus and in the Kingston community? Then be sure to check out our Events Page and Calendar for upcoming forums, discussions, speakers, movies, craft shows, food fairs, fundraisers, and more.
Next week, sign up for the Line 9 Pipeline Community Discussion (Mon, Nov. 5 at Dupuis Hall) and stop by Green Jobs and Your Voice (Tues, Nov. 6 at BioSci).
Have an event you would like to share? E-mail us at earthcentreatqueens@gmail.com and we will happily put it up!
The Earth Centre will be hosting a book exchange on the ground floor of the Queen’s Centre (aka ARC) this Thursday, October 18th.
The concept is simple: take a book, leave a book. Just exchange a book you don’t want anymore for a “new-to-you” book that someone else doesn’t want!
If you wish, you are also to drop off any books you may have in advance of the exchange at the Earth Centre store. Any and all books are welcome!
P.S. There will be treats!
Hey Everyone
Just a heads up about the Earth Centre 2nd Annual Book Exchange which is scheduled to take place Thursday, March 1st on the 1st floor of the Queen’s Centre. We’ll be setting up camp at a table there all day (10am-5pm). We’re taking book donations now so please visit the Earth Centre either this week (Feb 14-17) or the week following reading week (Feb 27-Feb 29). Our hours, to remind you, are 10am-5pm on weekdays.
You don’t need to donate books to take your own! (But the system works better if we have a good collection of books!)
Shoot us off an email if you have any questions or are looking to get involved!
EC Exec
Hi friends,
With the new year, there’s a lot going on around campus! Here are some updates that might strike the fancy of Earth Centre supporters:
1.) Bike Kitchen Project (AMS Sustainability Office):
The “Bike Kitchen” will be a student run used bike shop available to the Queen’s population and the Kingston community. Here we will have a range of quality used bikes to sell at a student friendly cost, tune up and repair services, and the equipment and tools for rent for you to come in and fix your own bike or learn how from our student volunteers. Volunteers will be trained students interested in everything bikes and trained in bike repair. Email Theresa at sustainabilityprojects@ams.queensu.ca for info!
2.) JDUC Green Roof (Earth Centre and friends)
We’re currently talking with the fine folks at the student life centre to see how feasible it would be to install a Green Roof on the JDUC! Cool! Feel free to shoot us an email if you want to get involved or have any inputs/questions/comments/etc.
3.) Green Corps 2011-2012 Field School for Environmental Organizing
In Green Corps’ year-long paid program, you’ll get intensive training in the skills you’ll need to make a difference in the world. You’ll get hands-on experience fighting to solve urgent environmental problems — global warming, deforestation, water pollution and many others — with groups such as Sierra Club and Greenpeace. And, when you graduate from Green Corps, we’ll help you find a career with one of the nation’s leading environmental and social change groups. Hit up: www.greencorps.org for more info or shoot Angela an email at angela(at)greencorps.org.
4.) Farm jobs/interships in Kingston!
The CRAFT program operates all around Ontario providing regional nodes for sustainable farmers to connect with each other and get a hold of interns for the spring/summer seasons. There’s a whole pile of farms in the Kingston area that are part of this network so if you want to get to farming this summer and get an awesome experience/understanding of Kingston’s food system hit up: http://www.craftontario.ca/regions/eastern-ontario/craft-kingston-farms/.
5.) Kingston Community Gardening Network Launch! (Loving Spoonful and others)
Be sure to check out the recent launch of the Kingston Community Gardening Network, which is a recently formulated group advocating for community gardens in Kingston and promoting a culture of gardening and farming in Kingston. Feel free to sign up for their newsletter to stay up to date on a series of gardening workshops (including seed starting, permaculture and urban gardening techniques). We’ll also be posting those dates in our monthly What’s On board in the centre. Cool? Cool.
6.) Recycle-mania 2011 (AMS Sustainability Office)
Recyclemania is an international competition encouraging students to increase recycling and waste diversion efforts. This project is headed by Queen’s Physical Plant Services, the Sustainability Office, the AMS Sustainability Office, MCRC Green Team and the SGPS. This initiative needs volunteers! It’s a great way to meet like minded individuals and get involved with larger campus sustainability project. Either shoot Anna an email at sustainabilitycommunications(at)ams.queensu.ca or check out their facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Queens-University-Recyclemania-2011/191751424171464.
Hope to see some of you around! -
the EC team
Dear Earth Centre followers,
Here’s a heads-up about a visit from Dr. Hines from Operation Wallacea. Maybe its something you’ll be interested in.
WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING NEXT SUMMER?
Seeking Adventure? Interested in Conservation?
On Tuesday, November 16th at 2:30pm in Biosciences Complex, Room 3110, Dr. Justin Hines of the field research organization Operation Wallacea will be giving a presentation about opportunities available for students next summer. Choice of location includes the cloud forests and coral reefs of Honduras, the lush tropical rainforest and immense coral reefs of Indonesia, the rivers and estuaries of the Peruvian Amazon, the bush of northeastern South Africa, the desert & coral reefs of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt and the coral reefs of Cuba. For 2011, we are very excited to announce our new
projects in Guyana and Mexico!
Opportunities include:
. Learning to dive on an uninhabited tropical island among world class coral reefs
. Jungle trekking in pristine un-surveyed rainforests, seeking out species new to science
. Working on sustainable community development projects with the locals (Indonesia, Honduras)
. Monitoring turtle nesting and behavioral patterns (Cuba, Peru)
. Surveying birds and reptiles at a World Heritage Site (Egypt)
. Surveying river dolphins, manatees, uakari and spider monkeys and macaws along the Peruvian Amazon
. Performing big game counts and assessing bush habitat (South Africa)
There are over 40 projects available for research assistants and over 150 individual research projects. So come to the talk and hear more about what this exciting project has to offer!
For further details please visit our website www.opwall.com and if you are interested in joining or have further questions please contact the office either via e-mail at canada@opwall.com or by phone on (905) 493-5101.
It’s September again which means that the Earth Centre is opening again! We have an awesome new Exec Committee that’s ready to roll and pumped to get the year started. But first, a few pieces of business:
1.) We’re shooting to open September 27th our hours will be from 10-5pm. In lieu of this excitement, we decided to supply some snacks to lure even more people up to our spot on the 3rd floor of the Queen’s Centre. Feel free to come by and pick up some products, scope the new space, say hello and read some of our new books!
2.) In order to open, we need volunteers! In order to volunteer just fill out the application attached to this post and either email it to earthcentreatqueens(at)gmail.com or hand in a hard copy at the AMS office in the JDUC in the EC’s mailbox. Applications are due back on or before September 25th. Details on volunteer training to follow. If you have any questions or concerns, as always, don’t be shy about emailing. Seriously, we love email.
3.) Finally, we’re holding a General Meeting on September 30th at 5:30pm at the Grad Club (corner of Barrie and Union). We’d love to get some input from community members, EC fans, volunteers and anyone else for how you’d like the Earth Centre to run. If you can’t make it out but really have something to say, hit us up on the email or just pop in to our new space in the Queen’s Centre.
Looking forward to the coming year and I hope to see some of you soon!-
Annie and Jenna
Co-Chairs 2010-2011
Hello Friends,
We (Jenna and Annie) are excited to announce that we will be the incoming co-chairs for the Earth Centre for the 2010-2011 year! As such, we’re beginning the process of developing our plan for the Earth Centre for the coming year and hiring a new executive committee. Attached is the application for the executive positions along with a description of each available position. Please feel free to apply for more then one position, just indicate your interest on the form and answer the questions accordingly. We’re shooting to do interviews around April 9th, 10th and 11th so we’ll be letting you know about our interview time-line around then. We’d prefer that you submit them electronically, but if you really feel the need to hand in a hard copy you can drop them off at the Earth Centre, which is located on the third floor of the Queen’s Centre.
Thanks again for all your time and patience this past year. We have BIG plans for next year and look forward to seeing all the applications.
Hugs and High Fives,
Annie and Jenna.
Below are the applications…We’ll also be sending out a similar (okay, the exact same) email to everyone on the volunteer/friends of the Earth Centre mailing list sometime over the weekend and making the information available in the Earth Centre as well. Thanks again and we’re looking forward to your applications!
Heads up! For the rest for the term, The Earth Centre will be setting up a satellite on Thursdays outside The Common Ground (on the second floor of the Queen’s Centre). Look out for e-mails and posts with details about which Thursdays we’ll be open!
Our satellite sales give you the chance to look at our products, rifle through a selection from our environmental resource library, and learn more about sustainable consumerism.
If you’re interested in getting information about The Earth Centre happenings delivered right to your inbox, e-mail us at earthcentreatqueens@gmail.com to join our mailing list.
The satellite sale will be open from 10-4 every Thursday. Come say hi!