Celebrate Earth Day by participating in one of the many celebrations around town.
Fourth Annual Urban Grassroots Earth Day Cleanup and Celebration
CareerYouth Development Inc. (CYD), Urban Grassroots, Alderwoman Milele Coggs, Keep GreaterMilwaukee Beautiful and Ina Onilu Dance & Drum Ensemble are kicking off thefirst stage of neighborhood clean-up and beautification with a cleanup atVictory Over Violence Park, 2615 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. from 10 a.m.-2p.m. The Ina Onilu Drum and Dance Ensemble will perform live at the event.Volunteers are needed. For more information, contact Elizabeth Coggs, executivedirector of Career Youth Development Inc., at 414-264-6888.
Monday, April 21
Free Movie Screening to Celebrate Earth Week
The Waukesha County Recycling Office and Carroll Universitywill be hosting a free public movie screening of Bag It: Is Your Life TooPlastic?, a documentary for all agescovering the politics of bags, single-use disposables, waste, recycling and thehealth of our oceans. It will be held 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. at the Dorothy GoffFrisch Recital Hall at Carroll University. To see a trailer of the film, visitbagitmovie.com. For more information, visit www.waukeshacounty.gov/recycling.
LaytonBoulevard West Neighbors’ GreenThumb Network Spring Gathering
Comeand join other neighbors interested in gardening Tuesday, April 22, 5:30-6:30p.m. at the Burnham Park Field House (1755 S. 32nd St.) and find out about greatresources to get the best out of your vegetable garden this year. Don't have aplace to grow your vegetables? Reserve a raised bed at an LBWN Community Gardenfor free at the event. Children are welcome and refreshments will be provided.RSVP by contacting Jezamil at 414.383.9038 (ext. 2303) or jezamil@lbwn.org. Foradditional information, visit lbwn.org.
Participatein the Office of Environmental Sustainability and Rock the Green’s third annual“Milwaukee’s Earth Day Celebration” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside of theCityCenter (735 N. Water St.). Mayor Tom Barrett, Alderman Robert Bauman, MattHoward of the Office of Environmental Sustainability and Lindsay StevensGardner of Rock the Green will be there. The event will incorporate on-sitenear-zero waste efforts similar to those implemented at Rock the Green’sfestival at Veterans Park, such as a bicycle pedal-powered stage (Vic & Gabwill perform), waste reclamation stations and local, sustainable and organicfood options. For additional information, visit rockthegreen.com.
EarthDay Demonstration
A“Stand for the Earth” will occur at noon on the corner of Water Street andKilbourn Avenue in downtown Milwaukee on Earth day. Organized by the Milwaukeechapter 350.org and co-sponsored by the Sierra Club John Muir Chapter,Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters and the Milwaukee Area Green Party,participants will carry banners and signs that call for a major effort to stopglobal warming and climate change. For more information, contact Julie Enslowat 414-964-9478.
11thAnnual Green Vehicles Workshop and Showcase
MATCand Wisconsin Clean Cities have brought together Milwaukee area’s experts ongreen transportation to provide citizens with all the information on trends,technologies, fleet experiences and alternative fuel barriers they need toknow. It’s also a great opportunity to network with local fleet managers,businesses and consumer. The $20 workshop is 8 a.m.-noon and the free showcase isnoon-2 p.m. at the Milwaukee Area Technical College Downtown Campus, Room S120(700 W. State St.). For more information or to reserve a spot, contact ErikaNoble at 414-221-4487 or Erika.Noble@wicleancities.org or visit wicleancities.org.
Earth Day Celebration at the Gordon Park Pavilion
The Great Waters Group of the Sierra Club welcomes everyoneto their Earth Day Celebration at the Gordon Park Pavilion (2828 N. HumboldtAve.). The event will kick off with keynote speaker Venice Williams of Alice’sGarden. Learn about Milwaukee’s Home Grown program, Transition Milwaukee andFondy Food Market at the event, listen to Rosenblatt, Cross Lutheran’s gospelyouth choir, and stick around for the closing ceremony by Rabbi Tiferet Gordonof Congregation Shir Hadash. Registration starts at 5 p.m.; program begins at5:30pm. For more information, contact Conservation Chair Dianne Dagelen at414-771-1505 or ddagelen@sbcglobal.net or visit greatwatersgroup.org.
Earth Day 5&5 Celebration
Good Harvest Market will hold its 10th Annual Earth Day Celebration 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. at 1850 Meadow Lane in Pewaukee. Featured events include a “plant a tree” scavenger hunt, a make your own bird feeder class, organic herb plantings, a rain barrel class, readings of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax and free samples from local vendors. All attendees will receive 5% off all purchases at Good Harvest Market and 5% of the day’s total sales will be donated to the nonprofit land trust Waukesha County Land Conservancy. For a schedule of the activities, visit goodharvestmarket.com.
LaytonBoulevard West Neighbors’ Green Living Festival
Visitthe Mitchell Park Domes (524 S. Layton Blvd.)between 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. for demonstrations, talks and activities allcentered on healthy strategies and sustainability. Learn about green, organic,fair-trade and sustainable policies, products and practices. For moreinformation, visit county.milwaukee.gov.
UrbanEcology Center Earth Day of Service
UrbanEcology Center’s “Earth Month” will culminate with simultaneous celebrations atall three of the Urban Ecology Center’s locations from 9:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Volunteer activities will beheld in the park followed by a community lunch. For more information aboutUrban Ecology Center’s ongoing April activities or the celebration, visit urbanecologycenter.org.
Launch the Great American Cleanup
Do some springcleaning outdoors by participating in the nation’s largest organized annualcleanup and beautification event, the three-month Great American Cleanup. The 2014 Kickoff Site is Mitchell Park (524 S. Layton Boulevard, in Milwaukee). Registration begins at 8:30. For more information, go to Keep GreaterMilwaukee Beautiful’s website at kgmb.org.
CommunityCleanup Day at Hawthorn Glen
CommunityCleanup Day, sponsored by Milwaukee Recreation, Keep Greater MilwaukeeBeautiful and Milwaukee County Parks, is part of the nationwide Great AmericanCleanup and is held annually at Hawthorn Glen (1130 N. 60th St.).Join in volunteering from 9 a.m.-noon to help pick up litter throughout the23-acre nature center. Volunteers who donate at least an hour of their timewill receive one free admission to the Milwaukee County Zoo or one freeadmission to a Milwaukee County Parks Swimming Pool/Water Slide attraction. Formore information, call 414-647-6050 or visit milwaukeerecreation.net/cleanup.
Waukesha County Materials Recycling Facility Open House
Find out how recycling works and enjoy music, prizes andmore from 9 a.m.-noon at the Waukesha County Materials Recycling Facility, 220S. Prairie Ave. Kids can meet and greet the recycle mascot, Recycle Raccoon,and guided tours will run every 15 minutes. Admission is free. For moreinformation, call 262-896-8300 or visit waukeshacounty.gov/recycling.
Retzer Nature Center’s Earth Day FinaleWrap up Earth Week at the Retzer Nature Center (S14 W28167Madison St.) with a day-long celebration filled with hikes, children’s craftsand activities, food, special programs, campfire with s’mores and trip into theBrown’s Fen to see frogs, peepers, woodcocks, coyotes and constellations. Bringa flashlight for the evening. For more information, visit waukeshacountyparks.com.
NationalPrescription Drug “Take-Back” DayApril26 is National Prescription Drug “Take-Back” Day and from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.,Wisconsinites are encouraged to take unwanted, expired or unused prescriptiondrugs to collection sites statewide (drop off sites can be located here).The “Take-Back” is free and anonymous. For more information, visit justice.gov/dea.
MilwaukeeRiverkeeper’s 19th Annual Spring River CleanupJoin other volunteers to help remove trash from rivers 9:00 a.m.-noonat one of Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s 50 sites throughout Greater Milwaukee. Bags,gloves and a free T-shirt are provided. For more information and to register,visit milwaukeeriverkeeper.org/rivercleanup.
Sunday, April 27
“InCelebration of Earth Day” at the Wehr Nature Center
From1-4 p.m., the Wehr Nature Center (Whitnall Park, 9701 W. College Ave.) will beoffering family- and earth-friendly activities, including an interactivepresentation by Kohl’s Wild Theater, naturalist-led walks focused on signs ofspring, papermaking, recycled crafts and activities in the early-childhoodnature playspace. The authors of The Kids’ Outdoor Adventure Book: 448 GreatThings to Do in Nature Before You Grow Up, Stacy Tornio (an editor for Birds andBlooms)and Ken Keffer (a naturalist at Wehr), as well as author of 101 Things to Doin Milwaukee Parks,Barbara Ali, will be signing books. For more information, call the Wehr NatureCenter at 414-425-8550 or visit county.milwaukee.gov/Parks.
Ongoing Opportunities
Waukesha County’s Earth Week Celebration Events
Waukesha County will be offering free Earth Week programmingthroughout April 21-26. Visit waukeshacounty.gov for a complete listingof programs, dates and times.
TheCity of Milwaukee Department of Public Works’ “Project Clean & Green”ProjectClean & Green (PCG), which runs April 14-June 4, is a citywidebeautification program that coordinates the pickup of excess household debris,sweepings of streets and allies, graffiti removal and other neighborhoodbeautification activities. The City of Milwaukee will be segmented into sevenzones, residents can place their unwanted items on the curb or alley line onregular collection day and the DPW will take the items free of charge. The DPWwill notpick up appliances, TVs and electronics such as computers, printers, scanners,tablets, etc., construction debris, paint, and more than two cubic yards oftree trimmings, grass or yard waste. For more information and specific disposalinstructions, call 414-286-2489 or visit city.milwaukee.gov/mpw.
Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee
Here are some ofthe opportunities offered by the Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee, aservice of the Nonprofit Center. Visit volunteermilwaukee.org for more volunteeropportunities.
- Help Lindsay Heights neighborhood residents cleanout gardens and pick up litter on Saturday, April 26. Call Walnut WayConservation Corp. at 414-264-2326.
- Help plant trees in your local park to celebrateArbor Day on Friday, April 25. Call Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful at414-272-5462 ext. 103.
- Help older adults with spring yard cleanup in aneighborhood near you. Call the Interfaith Good Neighbor Project at414-220-8648.
- Remove invasive garlic mustard and buckthorn alongSouthbranch Creek in Brown Deer; weekdays and/or weekends during spring andsummer months. Call 414-271-8000 ext. 2.
- Pull garlic mustard weeds at a nearby Milwaukee CountyPark any Saturday morning in May and early June. Call The Park People at414-273-7275 for the Weed-Out schedule.
- Remove weeds, shovel soil and lay out raised beds andmaintain compost bins for gardens in Milwaukee's Harambee neighborhood;weekdays and/or weekends. Call Victory Garden Initiative at 414-431-0888.
Know of an Earth Day event not listed here? Email theevent info to Amanda@shepex.com.
