UCSF to Host Earth Fest, Bike to Work Day on May 13

Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to bike to work on Thursday, May 13, when UCSF celebrates the annual Earth Fest.

More than 60 vendors offering earth-friendly information as well as green goods and services will converge at UCSF on May 13 for UCSF’s annual Earth Fest. The event is free and open to the public.

Earth Fest, to be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Millberry Union Gym, provides an opportunity to learn how to incorporate environmentally preferable practices at work and at home. The event will feature organic food tastings and raffle prizes.
A few of the groups that will be participating this year are the California Academy of Sciences, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, International Rivers, and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Water Pollution Prevention program.

Earth Fest coincides with Bike to Work Day, when the UCSF community is encouraged to leave their cars at home in favor of bicycles. UCSF will operate three morning energizer stations from 7 to 10 a.m. at the following locations:

• Mission Bay: At the corner of Owens and 16th St.
• Parnassus: At the UCSF bike cage at 3rd and Irving streets
• Mount Zion: At Divisadero and Post streets

 
Cyclists can stop by these UCSF stations, where tables will be stocked with free coffee, snacks and commemorative canvas tote bags. Riders will get a ticket at the energizer station that entitles them to a free lunch at the Earth Fest event on the Parnassus campus.

Going Green

In the past year, the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS), has been developing a comprehensive sustainability strategy to ensure that the campus and medical center do their part to reduce their carbon footprint. In fact, the entire UC system is leading the way to incorporate myriad sustainable measures, from building green facilities to expanding recycling.

UCSF departments will attend Earth Fest to showcase their green programs and practices to highlight progress in becoming an environmentally sustainable campus and medical center.

Earth Fest participants will be able to take simple steps toward a sustainable future. For example, people will be able to donate their used athletic shoes at the “sneaker take-back” table again this year. Shoes donated at the event will go to the UCSF Recycling Program, which will donate them to an agency serving the homeless. The sneakers that are too worn to give away to the agency will be brought to a facility where they are shredded for recycling into new footwear products.
Green gifts also will be on sale at Earth Fest. Returning again this year is vendor Jenny Hurth, who will be selling her tote bags which are made from reclaimed vinyl banners.

Related Links:

• SF Bike Coalition
• Campus Life Services website