Good Neighbor Training
With all the fear-mongering in the nation, you might want to get to know the people who live nearby. It's a whole lot better than holding your concealed weapon tightly and closing your doors to the world. At the Know Your Neighbor Volunteer Orientation, you can learn more about the refugee experience in Utah. Utah has usually been a welcoming community, especially since the mid-1970s and the end of the Vietnam War. "Residents have welcomed an estimated 60,000-plus refugees from more than 20 countries. ... the state of Utah receives an additional 1,100 refugees from around the world annually," organizers say. Salt Lake City and County Building, 451 S. State, 801-535-7931, Thursday, April 12, 6-8 p.m., free, bit.ly/2IZOznT.
Environmental Strategy Discussion
There must have been a time when the environment wasn't on the top of our endangered list. Have "Americans ... lost a sense of place and history because of their increased mobility?" And "why is it that communities in Utah, which are grounded in place and history, do not often share the environmental concerns that typically result from a strong belonging to the land?" Those are questions examined in Environmental Strategies, a lecture by Brigham Young University professor of humanities George Handley. This isn't just Utah's problem, either. It's what Handley calls global environmental degradation. He is also reading from his memoir Home Waters and novel American Fork. Weller Book Works, 607 Trolley Square, 801-328-2586, Thursday, April 19, 6:30-8 p.m., free, wellerbookworks.com
Recycle Day
Don't want to pay to dispose of your electronics? Well, it's that time of year again when the University of Utah opens its bins to residential detritus at U Recycle Day. What do they take? Documents for shredding, desktop and laptop computers, monitors, TVs, DVD and VCR players, stereos, phones, printers and copy machines, cameras, cords and AC adapters, small home appliances, skis and snowboards, DVDs and CDs, plastic disc cases, ink and toner cartridges, as well as donations of non-perishable food items. Rice Eccles Stadium, 451 S. 1400 East, 801-585-9352, Thursday, April 19, 8 a.m.-noon, free, bit.ly/2uqk4Eh
