South Suburban Colleges 4th Annual Earth Awareness Day & Expo

The Little Calumet River is said to have been used for everything a river could be used for good and bad. The pollution has been stopped and nature has taken over. Mike Echterling, Friends of the Little Calumet River, will make a presentation on what it took to revive the river and its condition as it stands today as part of South Suburban College's 4th Annual Earth Awareness Day.
The Little Calumet River is said to have been used for everything a river could be used for good and bad. The pollution has been stopped and nature has taken over. Mike Echterling, Friends of the Little Calumet River, will make a presentation on what it took to revive the river and its condition as it stands today as part of South Suburban College's 4th Annual Earth Awareness Day.

The South Suburban College Sustainability Committee will hold its 4th annual Earth Awareness Day & Expo from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday, April 9, at the Main Campus in South Holland at 15800 South State Street.

All of the Earth Awareness Day activities are free of charge and open to the public.

The Cook County Environmental Control will also be hosting a prescription drug take-back throughout the day in the Atrium (including: liquids, inhalers and mercury thermometers; excluding: controlled substances, needles and syringes), and there will be an e-waste collection for used electronics and computers conducted by the Keeling Family Foundation and the VetTech.US Program.

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Area residents take part in the Calumet River clean-up last year.

The Earth Awareness Day & Expo schedule is as follows:

9:00 a.m. Urban Agriculture–Creating a garden in a limited urban space: Presented by Blake Davis, Adjunct Professor of Sustainability and Urban Agriculture, Illinois Institute of Technology

10:00 a.m. Converting Biosolid Waste to Fertilizer–Where it comes from, how it’s treated for safe and beneficial uses, and examples of various applications: Presented by: Dr. Lakwinder S. Hundal, CPSS, and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District

11:00 a.m. The Little Calumet River–It was used for everything a river could be used for good and bad. The pollution has been stopped and nature has taken over with hardly any notice: Presented by: Mike Echterling, Friends of the Little Calumet River

12:00 p.m. Building Deconstruction–How to recycle as much as possible from buildings that are being remodeled or razed: Presented by: Alex Enarson, Assistant Manager, Rebuilding Exchange

1:00 p.m. Green Cleaning and Green Cleaning Products–The methods and products that are gentle on us and our environment: Presented by: Representative from the American Federation of Teachers

2:00 p.m. SSC Trees–Weather permitting, attendees will take a campus tour and see SSC’s native trees: Presented by: Eric Myers and Dave Shepard, SSC faculty

The Sustainability Committee was established in 2011 to coordinate SSC’s efforts in sustainability leadership within its community, and has adopted the following vision statement:

“South Suburban College strives to be a leader in sustainability efforts. This mission is achieved in several ways. College initiatives include, but are not limited to, renovating College buildings for energy efficiency, purchasing a percentage of renewable energy and eco-friendly products, encouraging campus programs that incorporate reducing, reusing and recycling, providing contemporary training for the green economy and supplying sustainability information and forums to the College district. Our most important goal is to educate our staff and students to practice environmental stewardship at home and in the community.”

SSC students also chartered the SSC Green Club in 2012 behind the leadership of its president and student trustee, Rebecca Garcia. In 2013, the college’s growing activity earned recognition from Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and the Green Governments Coordinating Council as a “Bronze Level Compact School” within the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact program.

SSC’s Main Campus is located at 15800 South State Street, South Holland, Illinois. For more information, please call (708) 210-5757.

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