A year ago, Fort Lewis College President Brad Bartel kicked off the college’s quest for carbon neutrality at Earth Week. This year, action and involvement are the themes of the long-standing Fort Lewis College Environmental Center event. The center has dispensed with workshops and lectures and organized more participatory events such as a poetry slam, concert and eco-fashion show. The goal is to get young people talking with each other and with adults about their hopes for a stronger and more sustainable community. A listing of events follows:

March 15: Youth Powered Poetry Slam

The event includes writing workshops and a performance workshop and culminates with a 7 p.m. poetry slam and performance at the Boys and Girls Club, 2790 Main Ave.

March 16: Tri-Community Cleanup

Cleanups are scheduled for Durango (meet at the Durango Rec Center Amphitheater at 9:30 a.m.), Bayfield (meet at Reach Homeschool Center at 11 a.m.) and Ignacio (meet at the Youth Service Center at 1 p.m.)  

March 17: Tie Some Threads

Paint or tie-dye an environmental T-shirt from 4-8 p.m. at the La Plata County Fairgrounds. Wear your clothes from this event to the March 20 Planetpalooza Concert and get in free.

March 18: Earth Week Keynote

Brower Youth Award winner Alberta Nells, 16, will talk about her work for Youth of the Peaks! – a coalition of young people fighting to protect sacred sites in the Southwest. The event takes place from 6-8 p.m. at the Ignacio Youth Service Center.  

March 19: FLC Campus and Trail Clean Up

The annual FLC campus clean up and recycling event runs from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. with cleanup central in front of Reed Library.

Events including that Planetpalooza Concert and Recyclable “Vintage” Fashion Show, the Earth Games, the Pedal for the Planet Bike Parade, and the Earth Week Keynote, continue March 20-22. For more information on any of the happenings, visit http: //envcenter.fortlewis.edu or call 247-7676.