Earth Day to May Day 2024

Workers Memorial Day 

Details TBD

a passion for the planet Eco-oratorio

6pm // Greenfield Garden Cinemas, 361 Main St Greenfield MA

The Greenfield Garden Cinema presents the concert film of Geoffrey Hudson’s eco-oratorio A Passion for the Planet. Sing along during the closing chorale!

 "Get-involved" fair following the film will feature Climate Action Now (CAN), Sunrise, YCAN, Mothers Out Front, mobilizing for a livable climate, the Franklin Community CO-OP, the Montague Pollinator Habitat Group, Western Mass Rights of Nature, and more. Free to all, $10 suggested donation will support the Massachusetts Farm Resiliency Fund. The event is part of the The Episcopal Church of Sts. James and Andrew's Environmental Sunday series for 2023-2024.

Green energy jobs in springfield!

6pm // 143 Main St, Room 104, Springfield, MA.

Springfield No One Leaves will be hosting representatives from a clean energy jobs recruitment program to let the community know about new green energy jobs in Springfield. With a low bar for entry a paid training, this is an amazing opportunity for anyone looking for a career change or a job.

Register here: https://forms.gle/KoQ5vDCFR2tvvYME6

For further info, call or text 413-342-1804 or email tim@springfieldnooneleaves.org

earth month webinars

Free energy-conservation webinars, mid-April through early June!

Green Energy Consumers Zoom presentations on incentives and rebates for EVs, heat pumps, and more! Click here to register.

ART PULSE! Art Build

4 - 8pm // Yurt in the Woods Studio, Williamsburg. 

Come make banners at the Art Pulse-Art Build. Contact Beth at beth@bethfairservis.com for more details.

earth day arts and climate fair

10am to 2pm // Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, Northampton MA

The event will include an Art Pulse for the Rights of Nature Parade, a Mothers* Rebellion (Knitting) Circle, a Climate Chorus Sing-a-Long, the 3.5% art installation, and the chance to talk to many local climate groups about action and solutions! 

Sponsored by Extinction Rebellion Western Mass, the Enviro Show, Western Massachusetts Rights of Nature, the Trees as a Public Good Network, Climate Action Now, the Sierra Club's Plant-Based Team, and the Unitarian Society's Climate Action Group.

WHY TREES MATTER FOR GREEN DEVELOPMENT

7 - 8:30 // Zoom event

Towns and cities across the Commonwealth are working BOTH to encourage green development of housing and energy and ALSO to avert the climate emergency. Learn how to make development climate friendly and “green” by preserving trees’ crucial eco-services in urban areas and in wild forests. Two scientists and three community advocates will explain how natural climate solutions can work together with the development Massachusetts needs.  Register here: https://tinyurl.com/Trees-Matter 

Join our Network: https://tinyurl.co

ENDING THE CLIMATE AND THE NUCLEAR CRISES FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

3 - 4 P.M. // Zoom event

Join the Coalition for Peace Action and the United Nations Association of Greater Philadelphia for a special Earth Day conversation with Timmon Milne Wallis of NuclearBan.US, Erican DeKranes of the Coalition for Peace Action, and Kim Fraczek of Sane Energy.

Registration required to reserve a spot and receive the Zoom link

FOODWAYS & RESILIENCE: CELEBRATING EARTH DAY AT AMHERST CINEMA

7pm Film // Amherst Cinema, 28 Amity St, Amherst

Celebrating Earth Day 2024, Amherst Cinema presents two short films from Comidas que Curan: "Salango, A Living Ancestral Heritage", and "Tarpuna: Corn." Pilar Egüez Guevara, PhD, founder of Comidas que Curan and Anthropology Lecturer at UMass Amherst, joins us for a post-screening discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. Tickets are available at the box office only on a first-come, first-served basis, either in advance or on the day of the screening. Foodways & Resilience: Celebrating Earth Day | Amherst Cinema 

sustaining climate action speaker panel

4 - 6 p.m. // Fine Arts Center Lobby, UMass Amherst

 Join us for an engaging discussion with climate action advocates about maintaining the climate justice movement. This dialogue will be an opportunity to learn from past successes and obstacles as well as serve as a foundation for coalition building. There will be time for both Q+A and guided group discussion. We hope to see you there! 

RSVP for the event here: https://forms.gle/dfMR67xBpaN7H4556

State Repression and Climate CAtastrophe: A conveRsation with Steven Donziger

5:30pm // UMass Venue TBD

When our basic rights are under attack, how do we get them back? On the 2nd anniversary of his release from house arrest, lawyear Steven Donziger joins UMass 57 member Ayva Holden and UMass alumna Barkha Bhandari ('22) for a discussion on corporate terror, state repression, and civil disobedience. RSVP required: bit.ly/donzigerumass

EArth Day Extravaganza

12-4pm // UMass Amherst, Goodell Lawn

Student farmers market, meditation and yoga, smoothie bike, thing swap, workshops, and more!

Inhabitants: Indigenous perspectives on restoring our world (film and q & A)

The film follows five Native American communities as they restore their traditional land management practices in the face of a changing climate. As the climate crisis escalates, these time-tested practices of North America's original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential. The film will be followed by a Q&A with Ben-Alex Dupris, enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes. Co-sponsored by the American Studies department, the Environmental Science & Policy program, the Center for the Environment, Ecological Design, and Sustainability, and the Office of Equity and Inclusion.

Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall at Smith College

6:30 p.m.

we speak to each other:   an intergenerational reading of poets who weave nature and climate into their poetry and practice. Press On: Indie Publishing Festival

1pm on Saturday, April 27th, 50 Arrow Gallery/Eastworks 116 Pleasant Street, Easthampton

Poets and audience will create a collective poem. Designed by Ollie Perrault and Morgan Brown-McNeil, poets and youth climate activists, and Carolyn A. Cushing, Easthampton Poet Laureate 2023-2025. We will follow 50 Arrow Gallery’s Community Care’s policies for masking. Participating Poets: Morgan Brown-McNeil, Serena Gross, Jason Montgomery, Mary Clare Powell, Ebbie Russell, and Jamie deVelder

PEople's science fair

12-4 pm // Haigis Mall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Amherst MA 01003

The third annual People’s Science Fair, organized by Western Mass Science for the People, will showcase diverse efforts by Western Massachusetts residents to harness STEM for social, economic, racial, environmental, climate, and cultural justice. Participants will include campus-based researchers with justice-oriented projects, grassroots organizers whose work involves STEM knowledge, and student activists committed to building a just future. 

Science for the People: Western Massachusetts 

Why our brains need wildlands

7pm // Climate Action Now Monthly Gathering via Zoom link here

With Susan Masino, Trinity College. The growing evidence for the brain health benefits of nature includes beneficial changes in brain activity, improved cognition and emotional regulation, and decreased depression and anxiety. The good news is these benefits do not require a wilderness trip – they can be achieved right here in our communities. Dr. Masino's research focuses on mechanisms of brain health and disease and the critical role of climate-regulating ecosystems. 

SITE WITH LOVE - TRANSITION IS CERTAIN, JUSTICE IS NOT

ZOOM Webinar: Monday, April 29th 5pm- 6:30pm. RSVP HERE. 

The MA Environmental Justice Legislative Table invites you to join us in a vision for justice. All too often we see public policy driven by fear and scarcity- yet as our planet is transformed by climate change, we have the opportunity to move towards justice. This webinar invites allies to connect, to learn and ultimately take action in solidarity with Environmental Justice communities both long-term and short-term for siting justice this legislative session.

The MA Environmental Justice Legislative Table members include GreenRoots, Alternatives for Community & Environment, Coalition for Social Justice, Arise for Social Justice, Groundwork Lawrence, and the North American Indian Center of Boston with allied support from Conservation Law Foundation, Union of Concerned Scientists, Massachusetts Public Health Association, Unitarian Universalist Mass Action, Clean Water Action, MA Climate Action Network, and Environmental League of MA.

Facebook Event here.

To have your organization co-sponsor this event, fill out this form: https://forms.gle/pmjpgxxP4ZxNHmqy9

Cancel STudent Debt to Support Workers

12pm // Hagis Mall, UMass Amherst

Student debt impacts workers of all kinds, from nurses to teachers, custodians to truck drivers, personal care attendants to childcare workers, and many more. On May Day, as we celebrate workers, we demand that all student debt be cancelled entirely 

Join the Debt Collective, the Western Mass Area Labor Federation, and the Higher Ed for All Coalition to make our voices heard.

Voices of Working People's History

7-9PM (doors at 6:30) // Holyoke Media, 1 Court Plaza (Suffolk St), Holyoke. Parking lot across street

A free program of dramatic readings and lots of songs, with emphasis on Western Mass. voices, telling the origin story of May Day as International Workers’ Day in Chicago with an inspiring introduction to US labor history up to present-day voices of workers rising up ~ inspired by Howard Zinn. Seating is limited!  Reserve seats by May 1st here. 

Resilient Greenfield Organizing Party

2-5pm // LAVA Center, Greenfield 

Join us! Acoustic instruments, food, and ideas for answering the question, "What can we do, here in Greenfield, about the climate crisis?" After the potluck and jam,  we'll have panelists from UMass to talk about the science and history, local leaders who are making our community more resilient, and end with an open conversation about what would be worth committing to build together.  Visit the event page and register. 47 people max. 

Unionizing 101: A workshop on Building power at your job

5:30-7pm // UMass Amherst Campus Center 168C

What can unions do for you? What is it like to have a union at your job? How do you start a union? What are the basics of organizing a union? Light dinner provided. 

Register here: https://forms.gle/YSJ7LS2tpWpyDs9D8 For more information email Clare Hammonds at chammonds@umass.edu

worker panel: A Just TRansition Farm to TABle

Time and location TBD

Organized by Western Mass Area Labor Federation, Climate Action Now and Springfield Climate Justice Coalition

Come listen to a panel of workers from various industries discuss their frontline work as farmers, grocery workers and line cooks. Hear what they love and hate about their jobs, how they see themselves impacted by a growing climate crisis, and what opportunities and challenges they see for change from their vantage point as a worker.