Just a few spaces remain in the LLCC Community Garden! Call today to inquire about signing up. Beginning and experienced gardeners are welcome. Garden space has full sun and each person can reserve up to two raised beds for $20 to grow your favorite vegetables, flowers, and fruits. For more information contact Marnie Record at 786-4993.

LLCC’s Green Center is hosting the first Homegrown Fest and 13th annual Central Illinois Composting Symposium Saturday, March 19 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Workforce Careers Center. Registrations are being accepted now.

The two events bring together community members to explore topics related to food and gardening with leaders in the field through interactive educational programs. “We are excited to combine the Homegrown Fest with the Composting Symposium for the first time this year to offer an expansive selection of learning opportunities that cover the full sustainable food cycle from growing to cooking and eating, to then returning those nutrients back to the soil and growing more healthy food,” says Marnie Record, workforce specialist at LLCC.  Read more.

Faculty, staff, and students can now register for a raised bed in the LLCC Community Garden. As a garden participant you will manage your own space to grow the fruits or vegetables of your choice all season long. A $20 garden allows you to choose one or two raised beds, depending on space available and the amount of space you are willing to manage. Raised beds are assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis until filled. First time gardeners are welcomed! There are many documented benefits of gardening – it is cheaper to grow your own food, you can reduce stress through gardening activities and connecting with the soil, and you can eat a healthier, more delicious diet by incorporating whole foods that you grow yourself. The LLCC Community Garden is located behind the Workforce Careers Center and Montgomery Hall. Contact Marnie Record at 6-4993 for more information about the LLCC Community Garden and to inquire about garden space availability.

The LLCC garden farm stand on Wednesday from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (or until sold out) in the Workforce Careers Center will feature two new items this week – cilantro and baby bok choy. Bok choy is an Asian green most commonly used in stir-frys, but is also delicious in braises and soups. Also available: spinach, radish, mesclun mix and lettuce.

Though paper recycling rates in the U.S. have increased in recent years, paper still represents one of the biggest components of solid waste in landfills – 26 million tons (or 16% of landfill solid waste) in 2014. When paper decomposes in a landfill, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

The LLCC farm stand, which features fresh produce grown on campus, will be open Wednesday during Bistro Verde hours from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Workforce Careers Center. Available produce includes spinach, radishes, heads of lettuce, mesclun lettuce mix and limited kale.

Sustainability Day activities kick off today with a farm stand at Bistro Verde from 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. The farm stand will feature fresh produce for sale, grown in the campus high tunnels, including: lettuce (little gem, Yugoslavian red, speckled), mesclun mix, arugula, spinach, French breakfast radish, flat-leaf parsley and curly kale. Takeout lunches are also being served in the Bistro at that time. Here is the menu: Bistro to Go 10.12.15 and you can pre-order by emailing bistroverde@llcc.edu.

Thursday in A. Lincoln Commons, student clubs and the Green Center will have informational tables, games and snacks from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. From noon-1:15 p.m., the film “Unacceptable Levels” will be shown. The film by Ed Brown “…brings home in a very real way the link between our environment and our health.”

An easy way to cut paper consumption in half is to set your printer default to double-sided. You can set up your printer defaults under Printer Properties when you print a document.

Monday-Friday, April 20–24, iGEN, Smart Grid Interactive Kiosk, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., A. Lincoln Commons. Kiosk will deliver smart grid consumer education and information to multiple audiences
Wednesday, April 22, Environmental Club Activities, 9 a.m.–2 p.m., A. Lincoln Commons. Heirloom tomato plant sale • Earth Day T-shirt sale • Common Milkweed seed giveaway.
Workforce Development Activities,10 a.m.–1 p.m. outside A. Lincoln Commons. Solar trainer • Green giveaways • Student surveys
Saturday, April 25, Celebrate International Migratory Day-Lincoln Land Association of Bird Banders, 7–11 a.m., LLCC Bird Banding Station (located just north of the LLCC girls’ softball/boys’ baseball fields). Bird banders Tony Rothering, LLCC biology professor, and Vern Kleen will give banding demonstrations and will discuss how banding provides critical information concerning bird population dynamics and migration trends. Participants will have the opportunity to hold and release a bird after it has been banded. Also, at the station: Environmental and Chemistry Clubs “Greener Lifestyle” products promotion.
Wednesday, April 29, Smart Grid for Schools Interactive Display, 8 a.m.–4 p.m., A. Lincoln Commons. Learn about your future with electricity. Illinois State University brings its Smart Grid for Schools program – learn about the new Smart Grid technology currently being implemented by the utilities.