In recognition of Earth Day, Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) will be hosting events raising awareness about sustainability and earth-friendly practices at both its Central Campus in Blue Bell and West Campus in Pottstown during April 22-24.

On Monday, April 22, MCCC will host its Earth Day activities in the Central Campus quad, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Visitors can learn about composting, electric-powered cars, gardening with native plants, recycling, trails, sustainable banking and more.

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Participants will include Back 2 Earth Compost, Bergey’s Chevrolet, Compass Group, David Brothers Landscaping, Greater Valley Forge Transportation, J.P. Mascaro & Sons, McCaffrey’s, Money and Elephant, Office Depot, Penn State Cooperative Agency master gardeners, Responsible Recycling Services, Schuylkill River Greenway Association, Siemens, Subaru and Wells Fargo.

MCCC’s Environmental Sustainability Club members will talk about their activities, including composting containers in the dining hall, campus clean-up day, local stream clean-up and the showing of the “Straws” film to generate awareness of this environmental hazard. In addition, MCCC’s Ceramic Club members will be selling ceramic bowls to raise funds for the MCCC Empty Bowls Scholarship Fund and The Monkey & The Elephant non-profit coffee shop that employs former foster youth.

On Tuesday, April 23, MCCC will be hosting an electronics recycling collection in Pottstown in collaboration with Responsible Recycling Services of Kutztown, Pa. Students, employees and community members are invited to bring their broken, unwanted and outdated electronics to the MCCC’s Sustainability and Innovation Hub building at 140 College Drive between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. or until the truck is full.

Items that can be recycled free of charge include desktop and laptop computers, DVD players, VCRs, keyboards and mice, gaming systems, printers, fax machines, strands of Christmas lights, cables, cords, microwaves, small appliances, cell phone and laptop batteries, metal items, calculators, adding machines, exercise equipment, UPS battery backups, car batteries (sealed lead acid), toner and ink cartridges, bed frames, rain spouting, audio visual equipment, filing cabinets, telephones and cell phones.

On Wednesday, April 24, MCCC will host its Earth Day activities on the South Hall patio at West Campus, 101 College Drive, Pottstown, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Visitors can learn about composting, alternative energy sources, wildlife, recycling, trails and recreation and more.

Participants will include Back 2 Earth Compost, Community Eco System, Culinart, Greater Valley Forge Transportation, John James Audubon Society, Pottstown CARES, Pottstown Parks and Recreation, Office Depot, Schuylkill River Greenways Association, Siemens and Subaru Ambassador.

MCCC students will be demonstrating how a hydroponics system works and information will be available about both aquaponics and hydroponics. Additionally, visitors can swap books at the book swap and donate umbrellas for the West Campus “umbrella share.”

The culminating event for the week will be a free symposium featuring world-renowned Environmental Science Professor Dr. Pablo Canziani who will speak about “Global Climate Change: Environmental Crisis or Socio-Economic Crisis?” on Wednesday, April 24, at 12:30 p.m. in the Science Center Theatre in Blue Bell.

Canziani is an environmental professor at the National Technological University, Regional College Buenos Aires and Director of the Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo de las Ingenierías, with joint affiliation as principal investigator to the National Scientific and Technical Research Council. Canziani’s team currently investigates and inventories the evolution of atmospheric systems and climate in the southern hemisphere.

Canziani formerly was a member of NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Satellite Scientific Team at the University of Washington and of the Steering Scientific Group for the “Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate,” a project of the World Climate Research Program. He participated in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and UNEP-WMO Ozone Assessment activities.

He is one of the co-founders of the Centro Regional de Cambio Climático y Toma de Decisión (an academic network which includes academic units from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay). He also is one of the founders of the Global Catholic Climate Movement of 2015 and the Argentine Network for the Environment and Development as part of the National Lay Catholic Social Networks.

For more information about MCCC’s Earth Day activities, visitwww.mc3.edu/green.

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