Upcoming Events

Friends of Seaside Park Gardening

Come and play for Earth Day! Help weed, mulch, and plant! Enjoy goodies and giveaways! Get ideas and inspiration! Learn more here!

Birdwatching and Kayaking Tour

Middlebirdy invites you to celebrate Earth Week with a fun afternoon of birding and kayaking in the Elkhorn Slough! Home to more than 340 resident and migratory species, the Elkhorn Slough is recognized as an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society. Our birding and kayaking adventure will be led by a knowledgeable tour guide who knows the ins and outs of the Slough. Space is limited and sign up is first come, first served!

Mushroom Dinner

A Cooking Event with Fun-guys and Fungi! Get hype for culinary exploration as we learn to cook with an array of mushrooms. From portobellos to oyster and lions mane, discover new flavors and recipes to elevate your cooking. Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned chef, come join us for a relaxed and enjoyable cooking experience! Sign up here!

Upcycled t-shirt and tote bag craft

Transforming Old Tees into Totes! Join us for a fun-filled event where we’ll breathe new life into old t-shirts by turning them into tote bags. Whether you bring your own shirts or pick from our thrifted collection, get ready for a Earth Week event of creativity and eco-friendly fashion!

Yoga

Let’s celebrate Earth day with a grounding Ying&Yang practice where will we explore and connect to the elements through a dynamic flow followed by a sweet relaxing sequence. No sign up needed.

The Smell of Money Film Screening

Sponsored by the Environmental Policy & Management Program: North Carolina residents take on one of the world’s most powerful companies in a fight for their rights to clean air, pure water, and a life free from the stench of pig feces in this David v. Goliath documentary. Trailer.

NitroCycle

Bike to campus and the first 35 of the MIIS Communtiy to come by bike will get free coffee from NitroCylce! & the BrewBus: The Ultimate Eco-Friendly Coffee Experience on Wheels! If you don’t bike, don’t worry you’ll still be able get your coffee fix by purchasing it yourself.

9 Lives Swap

Clothing and small items swap! Stop by and find your new favorite thing! No need to bring anything to take something. Everything is free! And there will be snacks.

Game Night

Sponsored by the MIIS Library: Build community by playing environmentally themed games! Student volunteers and library staff members will be offering “learn to play” sessions of Cascadia, a tabletop game about pairing wildlife with appropriate habitats and Daybreak, a cooperative game in which everyone works together to stop climate change and collectively wins (or loses!). Other nature/Earth related games will also be available to play and check out at the end of the session.

The Eloquent Suri of Ethiopia: Storytelling, Advocacy, and Action

Sponsored by the Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation: Turning the lens of Earth Week to a small ethnic group in the far southwest corner of Ethiopia, Mark Overgaard will discuss his McCone Atrium Gallery exhibit and its parent project – The Eloquent Suri of Ethiopia: People, Culture, Art, Language. His portraits of Suri collaborators are complemented by touching, Suri-created illustrated stories of Suri life and their intimate communion with nature, drawn from literacy primers. A key focus of the session will be a recently launched initiative to revive mother tongue education among this people and how compelling imagery (still, moving, and verbal) can contribute to that revival. If you have any questions please reach out to Netta Avineri at navineri@middlebury.edu 

Water and Conflict Talk

Sponsored by the Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation: Prof. Wei Liang and Prof. Jeff Langholz will be in conversation about their local and global coursework and public engagement focused on water and conflict transformation. They will share personal and professional stories focused on social change, highlighting diverse modalities for engaging with audiences around the world. If you have any questions please reach out to Netta Avineri at navineri@middlebury.edu 

Newspaper craft

In this workshop, we will give old newspapers a second life by making lovely and/or useful creations! Some of these will even be used by the Garden Club for their cute plants!

Our National Parks screening

Come watch the Our National Parks episode about the Monterey National Marine Sanctuary, narrated by former President Barack Obama. Enjoy snacks and drinks while learning about the biodiversity hotspot located right on our doorstep :)

Sunrise Bike Ride

Departing from Fisherman’s Wharf circle at 6:15am. Come join us on a ride to Asilomar Beach! The ride will take about an hour plus however long we linger. Assume we will return to Fisherman’s Wharf around 7:30/8am. You will need to provide your own bike.

Garden Beautification & Planting Event

Earth Week Trivia!

Want to test your knowledge of the earth, what kind of plastic can be recycled, and some tidbits from earth week events earlier in the week while enjoying some vegan charcuterie and refreshments?? Come to Earth Week Trivia! Use the sign-up form, grab three friends (or strangers, doesn’t matter) and sign up as a team of four! Want to fly solo or meet some new people? Sign up as a “walk on” and you will be placed on a team! Sign up closes 04/22. See you nerds there!

Vegan Ice Cream Bar

Sponsored by the Environmental Policy & Management Program: Vegan ice cream sundae bar—come out and enjoy the sun in the MIIS garden while eating ice cream that tastes amazing and doesn’t harm animals or the environment. You can have your ice cream and eat it too!

Bears, Breas, Beers Happy Hour

Sponsored by the Environmental Policy & Management Program

Beach Cleanup with Surfrider

Come together for a day of environmental stewardship at our Beach Cleanup event with the Surfrider Foundation! This event is a chance to contribute to our environment while creating a bond with our community during Earth Week.

Hike + Picnic

Sailing

Have you always dreamed of being a pirate, riding the high seas of the Monterey Bay with a motley crew? Now is your chance. Join Aquatics Club and the Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club for a fun-filled day of sailing in the bay, no previous experience required! Spots are limited, so sign-up is first come, first serve. More details on sign up to be released soon!

MIIS's Solar Panel Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Join us at Pierce Street Promenade to celebrate the completion of the solar panels and the potential reduction of our carbon footprint by 60%!  We will have games and activities, cocktails, and food, complete with an official ribbon cutting ceremony!

Nine Lives Swap (formerly Thrift and Thrive)

Come participate in our monthly clothing/small items swap! Bring anything you want to donate, or just come and find a new outfit! You don’t need to bring anything to take anything. Help reduce all the resources and carbon emissions that go into clothing production.

Outside the Holland Center

Freecycle

Middlebury Institute Faculty, Staff, and Students:
 
In an effort to continue our goal of recycling, reducing, and reusing in an environmentally friendly way, we are offering gently used, somewhat used, and REALLY used chairs, file cabinets, bookshelves and a few small tables on a first come, first serve basis.
 
The office/general supplies/computers will be available in the driveway of the Institute’s apartment building at 400 Van Buren (corner of Franklin and Van Buren).
 
Furniture and larger items will be available in the basement alley of McGowan, accessible next to the DLC, 420 Calle Principal.   

Computers will be available in McGowan 200J, just outside of the elevator on the second floor of McGowan. 
  
(or until items are gone, whichever comes first!)
 
All claimed items must be removed by 5PM on September 1.

New Student Opportunity Fair

Come say hello at the New Student Opportunity Fair! We will be running a table at this event on Friday, September 1^st, 12:30-2pm at the Holland Student Center and Holland Patio. 

We will have information on our current projects, goals, and initiatives, as well as resources for learning about ways to get involved! Questions can be directed to sustainablecampus@middlebury.edu.