April 12, 2023 

Media Contacts:
Dr. Joan Qazi, WVC sustainability coordinator, 509-881-9182, jqazi@wvc.edu
Derek Sheffield, WVC English faculty, dsheffield@wvc.edu

Wenatchee Valley College will be celebrating Earth Week with two days of events celebrating sustainability and the natural world on April 19-20. All events are free and open to the public. On-campus parking is free during Earth Week events.

Wednesday, April 19 is Zero Waste Wednesday, promoting reducing waste and responsible consumption. Different groups will lead activities around the fountain between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Waste Loop will guide visitors on how to conduct a waste audit to see what is being recycled and wasted. There will be presentations by the City of Wenatchee stormwater specialists about protecting local waterways and by the Plastic Reduction Committee on effective recycling. There will also be demonstrations of WVC’s single bottle glass crusher which is used to transform glass bottles on campus into glass sand.

Thursday, April 20 is Thankful Thursday and the Cascadia Field Guide book launch. On both campuses, WVC faculty will lead discussions calculating the carbon storage capacity of local tree canopies. This will begin at 11 a.m. under the large spruce tree near Batjer Hall on the Wenatchee campus and at 12:15 p.m. near the greenhouse on the Omak campus.

On the Wenatchee campus, free lunch will be provided by From Scratch By Us, the on-campus catering company, at noon. At 1 p.m. in The Grove Recital Hall in the Music and Art Center there will be a book launch for the Cascadia Field Guide featuring WVC English faculty Derek Sheffield and other visiting writers and artists, including Elizabeth Bradfield, Andrew Gottlieb, CMarie Fuhrman, Justin Gibbens, Jack Johnson and Sarah Van Sanden.

Earth Week at WVC is sponsored by WVC Sustainability Committee, Tree Campus USA, Plastic Reductions Campaign and Associated Students of WVC Student Senate.  For more information please contact WVC Sustainability Coordinator Joan Qazi at jqazi@wvc.edu or visit wvc.edu/Sustainability.

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Wenatchee Valley College enriches North Central Washington by serving educational and cultural needs of communities and residents throughout the service area. The college is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion for all students and employees and provides high-quality transfer, liberal arts, professional/technical, basic skills and continuing education for students of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds.

Wenatchee Valley College is committed to a policy of equal opportunity in employment and student enrollment. All programs are free from discrimination and harassment against any person because of race, creed, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a service animal by a person with a disability, age, parental status or families with children, marital status, religion, genetic information, honorably discharged veteran or military status or any other prohibited basis per RCW 49.60.030, 040 and other federal and state laws and regulations, or participation in the complaint process. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies and Title IX compliance for both the Wenatchee and Omak campuses:

• To report discrimination or harassment: Title IX Coordinator, Wenatchi Hall 2322M, (509) 682-6445, title9@wvc.edu.
• To request disability accommodations: Director of Student Access, Wenatchi Hall 2133, (509) 682-6854, TTY/TTD: dial 711, sas@wvc.edu.