Sustainability Week is week-long slate of events held each year by the Town of Blacksburg in partnership with Virginia Tech and Sustainable Blacksburg, a local citizens’ group. This year, Sustainability Week will feature nearly 30 events.
Details for the full schedule of this year’s Sustainability Week events can be found at http://sustainableblacksburgva.org/events/sustainability-week-2017/.
For more information, contact Carol Davis, Sustainability Manager, Town of Blacksburg, at cdavis@blacksburg.gov or 540-443-1617.
Events for Saturday, Sept. 23
Outdoor Family Class: The Art of Autumn
9:30-11:30 a.m.
Heritage Park – 2300 Glade Rd. (meet in the Glade Rd parking lot)
Why do leaves turn beautiful colors in the fall? What does it feel like to be a leaf spinning in the wind? Join us for an art and nature workshop inspired by autumn and organized by the New River Land Trust. Adam Short, Virginia Master Naturalist trainee, will teach us about local trees and reveal the secrets of their fall colors. Then, we’ll whirl and twirl like leaves and make watercolor prints with local artist and art teacher, Alyssa Holland Short. *Kid/family friendly. The class is free, but registration is required.
Email youthoutreach@newriverlandtrust.org to register.
KidWind Practice Challenge
10 a.m. – 2 p.m., open house format – drop in anytime
YMCA Large Event Room, 1000 N. Main St.
Sustainability Week is excited to partner with the JMU Center for Wind Energy to bring you this exciting event. We invite you to come explore wind energy in the wind tunnel. We will provide all the materials needed to explore, build, and test a wind turbine in preparation for the Southwestern Regional KidWind Challenge on March 5 in Roanoke. In addition to wind energy, local experts in other clean energy technologies, (solar, energy efficiency, and biodigestion of food waste to create fuel – see event description below), will also be on hand, so all you clean energy enthusiasts, this is the event for you. Practice challenge open to grades 4-12, but parents and younger siblings welcome. Elementary-aged children must be accompanied by an adult. *Kid/family friendly
For more information visit JMU Center for Wind Energy, KidWind Challenge, email panglerm@jmu.edu, or call 540-568-8768.
Mobile Biodigester Demonstration
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. held in parallel with KidWind Practice Challenge
YMCA parking lot
Who doesn’t love a win-win-win? Come see for yourself how we can reclaim the useful energy in food waste, help to divert organic material from our local landfills, while also creating a high-nutrient waste product that can fertilize future crop production. Created by mechanical engineering students at Virginia Tech under the direction of Dr. Steven Cox, the entire food-to-energy conversion process happen right on the mobile biodigester trailer and can create enough energy to power an entire home. *Kid/family friendly
For more information, visit VT Renewable Energy Now, Dr. Steven Cox.
Eco Movie Night – “Straws” and “The Garbage Revolution Starts at Home”
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Blacksburg Public Library
From a single choice like whether or not to use disposable straws or larger topics like the totality of our garbage footprint, these two short independent films seek to help viewer explore how small habits can add up to huge impacts. Everyday life under a microscope has never been so revealing. By the end of this trashy odyssey, we hope you are truly inspired to revolutionize your lifestyle for the sake of future generations. These filmmakers skillfully and succinctly shift the conversation from the distant melting glaciers and oil slicks to our neighborhoods and into our homes, so that average people can connect the dots between their actions and the environment and be inspired to change their polluting ways. *Kid/family friendly
Week Long Events: Sept. 16-24
Kids’ Activities Passport
This year for Sustainability Week we are offering something new – a passport to all the activities that are kid/family friendly. Kids who participate in at least four Sustainability Week activities (initialed by parent/teacher) will receive a special prize. Please visit the website and look for *kid/family friendly" to find all the fantastic events you and your kid can attend.
Passports can be picked up at the SEEDS Office/Price House Nature Center, 107 Wharton St., SE, the Blacksburg Children’s Museum, 1470 S. Main St., Suite 106, the YMCA Thrift Store, 1000 N Main St., or Imaginations Toy and Furniture, 1531 S. Main St. If you would like the passport emailed to you, please contact sustainability@blacksburg.gov. Children 12 and under must be accompanied by a parent at all Sustainability Week events. Prizes for completed passports can be collected at any of the places where passports were distributed, or at the Town of Blacksburg Sustainability Office at 141 Jackson St.
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
Friday and Saturday, 7 and 9:15 p.m.; Sunday, 3, 7, 9:15 p.m.; Monday, 10 a.m., 7 and 9:15 p.m.; Tuesday - Thursday, 7 & 9:15 p.m., The Lyric Theatre, 135 College Ave.
A decade after "An Inconvenient Truth" (2006) brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. A sequel to "An Inconvenient Truth," the follow-up documentary addresses the progress made to tackle the problem of climate change and global efforts to persuade governmental leaders to invest in renewable energy. Rating PG. Run time 98 minutes
For more information, visit An Inconvenient Sequel.
