Events and volunteer opportunities
VCU Sustainability frequently hosts events and volunteer opportunities for students, employees and community members. These events and activities provide individuals with the opportunity to support VCU's mission, engage with the VCU and local community, and support sustainability and environmental initiatives.
Use the dropdowns below to learn about upcoming and past events and opportunities.
VCU Learning Garden Program
The VCU Learning Gardens hosts weekly volunteer opportunities for students March through December including hands-on activities, Service Learning activities, and activities tailored to student organizations upon request. For more information about getting involved, visit the Learning Gardens page or contact sustain@vcu.edu.
VCU Community Forestry Program
The VCU Community Forestry Program hosts weekly volunteer opportunities for VCU and Richmond community members March through December including hands-on activities, Service Learning activities, and activities tailored to student organizations upon request.
Amelia Street School Tree Care: Help us water and maintain over 100 trees planted at the Amelia Street School. View and sign-up for volunteer opportunites on our volunteer form.
Amelia Street School Meadow Planting: Help us plant over 1,000 native grasses and wildflowers at the Amelia Street School. View and sign-up for volunteer opportunites on our volunteer form.
For more information about getting involved, visit the Community Forestry page or contact Wyatt Carpenter, carpenterlw@vcu.edu.
HandsOn Greater Richmond
HandsOn Greater Richmond provides individuals with a variety of opportunity to participate in volunteer events and activities throughout the year in the Greater Richmond region. Visit the HandsOn Greater Richmond website to search for opportunities related to sustainability and other topics.
2022 Earth Day events
In celebration of Earth Day, the VCU Office of Sustainability, other VCU organizations and local businesses hosted events throughout the week.
- StudyWell tabling event at Cabell Library where students could learn about the VCU Libraries' StudyWell program and sustainability initiatives at VCU, and they helped guide the development of the ONE VCU Sustainability Plan.
- Earth Day tabling event at Larrick Student Center allowed students, faculty and staff learned about sustainability initiatives at VCU, contribute to the development of the ONE VCU Sustainability Plan, and speak with Sustainability staff and Medical Students for a Sustainable Future representatives about sustainability topics.
- VCU Outdoor Adventure Program and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters open climb event with guest speakers at the Cary Street Gym where guest speakers discussed the topic of inclusivity in the outdoors and students could climb the rock wall.
- Earth Day bazaar at the University Student Commons Plaza where attendees browsed and bought sustainable products from local businesses as well as student-owned businesses; participated in a sustainability workshop focused on environmental sustainability; visited tables hosted by the Office of Sustainability; and contributed to the development of the ONE VCU Sustainability Plan.
Other Previous Events
Campus Sustainability Day (CSD)
CSD is a nation-wide celebration that encourages colleges and universities to create events centered on sharing ideas, resources and information with students, faculty, staff and local community members about sustainability. VCU has hosted an annual CSD celebration on or around Family Weekend since 2008. Previous events have been themed around various sustainability topics including food access, the fashion industry and green infrastructure. CSD also showcases projects, programs and sustainability resources available at VCU and in the Richmond community. VCU CSD events typically include:
- Food that is as local and sustainable as possible and is always vegetarian or vegan to encourage students to reduce their meat consumption.
- Since 2016, CSD events have been zero waste, with plastic free packaging, compostable serviceware products and food waste has been collected and composted by a Richmond-based composting company.
VCU Community Forestry Program projects
Visit the VCU Community Forestry Program projects page for information about past projects.