Whether you are attending an event, joining a student organization, educating yourself, or applying for funding, we invite you to participate in Earth Month to celebrate the university’s steps to achieve its sustainability goals.
Earth Month is just one of many initiatives to support Assignment: Earth, USC’s sustainability framework for creating a healthy, just, and thriving campus and world.
Take Action
- Read the Earth Month 2024 Address from USC’s Chief Sustainability Officer
- Get the USC Earth Month Zoom backgrounds
- Join the conversation on social media
- Ditch plastic – find a water bottle refill station
- Bring your obsolete electronics to the e-waste collection in STU 101 on April 24
- Get Assignment: Earth merchandise at the USC Bookstore
- Subscribe to the Annenberg Earth Desk Newsletter
- Listen to the Eco Alarm podcast
Attend an Event
April 2, 2024
USC Arts & Climate Collective Festival
Join the Arts and Climate Collective in celebration of Earth Month on Tuesday, April 2nd. More information to come.
April 4, 2024
Climate Forward Conference 2024
Please join us for the fourth annual Climate Forward conference on Thursday, April 4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Town & Gown Ballroom.
April 9, 2024
Culture Journey Presents: Investing in Our Values: Sustainability, ESG, and USC’s Endowment
We invite you to learn more about USC’s investment strategy and position on these important issues at an upcoming virtual discussion.
April 9, 2024
Earth Month Dialogue: Coping and Hoping in a Changing World
Please join the Environmental Student Assembly on Tuesday, April 9, for an Earth Month speech by an environmentalist. More information to come.
April 11, 2024
Temperature Check with Jane Fonda and L.A. climate communicators
Join the Center for Climate Journalism and Communication to hear some of the most powerful voices in climate gather to discuss key environmental issues in L.A. and beyond.
April 17, 2024
What Matters to Me and Why
Join USC’s Chief Sustainability Officer on April 17 for “What Matters to Me and Why,” a monthly talk and discussion series featuring USC faculty and administrators.
April 18, 2024
2024 Student Sustainability Town Hall
This event is an opportunity for all students to ask questions and engage in an ongoing conversation with a few sustainability leaders on campus. Join us on April 18 and make your voice heard.
April 25, 2024
Delta Murphy Lecture
Join us on Thursday, April 25, for the 2024 Delta Murphy Lecture featuring Ed Yong, named “the most important and impactful journalist” of 2020 by Poynter and the New York Times bestselling author of An Immense World and I Contain Multitudes.
Plan An Event
April 1-30, 2024
- Community Conversations
- Trivia Games
- Lunch & Learn
- Networking Opportunities with alumni, professors, professionals
- Wellness Workshops
- Submit each event to calendar.usc.edu
- USC Calendar How to (visual guide)
- To Add Events to the USC Calendar
- Navigate to calendar.usc.edu.
- Click on “Submit Event” in the top right of the page.
- Login with USC credentials and follow the form prompts.
- Event Type: select “Sustainability”
- Department field: select your department
- Tag Field (for calendar admins): add “Sustainability”
- Each event is reviewed and approved before it appears on the calendar.
- Recognized Student Organizations & Student Affairs Departments should also submit events to EngageSC.
- EngageSC Calendar How to (visual guide)
- Marketing Materials:
- Add the Assignment: Earth logo to your graphics.
- Download Assignment: Earth Marketing Material.
- If in person events are allowed, remember to reserve space with the appropriate department. Each department will provide information about capacities, protocols, etc as it becomes available.
- Trojan Event Services manages space reservations for TCC, Bovard Auditorium, Ground Zero, Tommy’s Place and most outdoor spaces. For spaces not managed by Trojan Events, contact the respective academic unit in which that space resides.
- Ensuring all participants can fully access your events is crucial to ensuring an equitable experience for all.
- USC’s Disability Services and Programs office has created helpful guides to help you create accessible content and host accessible programs.
- Event planners should include in their materials the following event accessibility statement:
- “Individuals with disabilities who need accommodations to attend this event may contact [insert event sponsor’s name, phone, and email address]. It is requested that individuals requiring accommodations or auxiliary aids such as sign language interpreters and alternative format materials notify us at least 7 days prior to the event. Every reasonable effort will be made to provide reasonable accommodations in an effective and timely manner.”
- “How To Make Your USC Event Sustainable” Guide
- USC Single Use Plastic Bottle Policy toolkit has a vendor compliance checklist, visual aids, and a contact for additional assistance.
- For catering or other event needs, consider supporting diverse and local small businesses at Trojan Shop Local.
- The USC FPM Events checklist. See pages 7-8 for pre- and post-event steps you’ll need to take to ensure that your event is zero-waste. You also can reach out to USC’s Waste Diversion Supervisor at gwhisena@usc.edu for general support.
- Prioritize using reusable service ware – provide communal beverage dispensers with reusable cups.
- If reusables will not work for your event, compostables and products made from more sustainable materials such as aluminum or glass are the next best alternative. Note: Products in cartons – such as boxed water – have a plastic lining that renders them un-recyclable, which means they go to landfill.
- Ask guests to bring refillable water bottles and share the map of campus hydration stations
- Prioritize plant-forward menu choices over meat-based meals, and when appropriate, encourage guests and colleagues to take surplus food so it doesn’t get thrown away.
- Finally, please ask your event attendees who are USC faculty, student, and staff to take the the annual USC Sustainability Survey. It gauges sustainability literacy, culture, and behavior, takes less than 15 minutes to complete.
Email us at sustainability@usc.edu
Read the Latest News
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- How ‘Dune’ became a beacon for the fledgling environmental movement − and a rallying cry for the new science of ecologyWhen Frank Herbert sat down in 1963 to start writing ‘Dune,’ he wasn’t thinking about how to leave Earth behind. He was thinking about how to save it.
- $4 million gift launches new climate and carbon management initiative“This generous gift will enable innovative research to accelerate decarbonization strategies,” says Dornsife College Dean Amber D. Miller.
- Q&A with actress and activist Jane Fonda: Environmental issues, her childhood and the best hikes in L.A.Fonda reflects on the past and offers advice for the future in an exclusive with Annenberg Media.