Dear community partners,
Due to COVID 19 and safety precautions, Douglas County and the City of Lawrence will not host the anticipated in-person 2021 Earth Day celebration including the parade this year. The Sustainability Office will be featuring other ways to celebrate safely in the community on our website. We encourage community members to participate in acts of solidarity on their own time to celebrate, while following COVID 19 State and County orders.Celebrating Earth Day during a pandemic will take creativity. How will you celebrate Earth Day 2021? We would love to share and feature what you or your organization is doing to celebrate this special day and inspire others to join from the comfort of their homes! To feature your event or celebration on our website please fill out this short form.
For questions about Earth Day 2021, contact:
Connie Fitzpatrick | cfitzpatrick@douglascountyks.org
2021 commemorates the 21st anniversary of the City of Lawrence Earth Day Celebration. On this Earth Day we are celebrating our City’s five sustainability principles.
FEATURED EARTH DAY EVENTS
Cans for the Community
April 2021
Cans for the Community celebrates Earth Day the entire month of April. Our goal is to recycle 5,000 pounds of aluminum cans & to donate all proceeds to the 14 USD497 elementary schools. People can help us by dropping off their aluminum cans at one of our “can houses”. Locations are listed on our website. If everyone in Lawrence would recycle one pound of cans in April, we would easily exceed our goal (167,000 cans)! To learn more about Cans for the Community click on this link.
Straw Bale Building
The Light Center is building a tiny building to serve as a massage and healing space. Our timing is dependent upon weather, as the bales need to stay dry. If you have interest in learning, participating or observing please send an email to: info@lightcenter.info and we will let you know when the building will happen.
The Commons at KU
April 1st at 7:00 pm
An Evening with Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, Restoration and Reciprocity: Healing Relationships with the Natural WorldTo learn more about this event click on this link.
The Commons at KU
Heather McTeer Toney, Climate Justice Liaison, Environmental Defense Fund
April 14, 2021
12:30-1:30pm CT Online
Hosted by The Commons, the Environmental Studies Program, and the KU Departments of African and African-American Studies, English, Geography and Atmospheric Science, and Geology; the Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity; the Global Grasslands CoLAB; the KU Sawyer Seminar; the Office of Multicultural Affairs; the Health Humanities and Arts Research Collaborative; and the University Honors Program.
Event link: https://thecommons.ku.edu/event/987
KC’s 2021 Earth Festival, Online
April 17th & 18th
All events are free to the public. Visit EF21.ClimateGKC.org for details and registration. Hosted by Climate Council of Greater Kansas City
Friends of Hidden Valley
April 17th
We are having our annual Hidden Valley Work Day 1-4pm on April 17/rain day April 18 and welcome anyone interested in helping do trail work, clear invasive plants, work on flower beds, plant trees and have a great, COVID-safe time! You must observe COVID safe practices, sign a waiver and sign up for a time, all available here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49A4A92AABFCCE9-apr
People of Color in Green Spaces Webinar Series & Project
April 21st at 10:00 am Pacific (12:00 PM Central)
This webinar series organized by Philip Saunders, Deputy Division Director Green Fleet Program at the City of Seattle is bringing together students from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and BIPOC Community Organizations together to talk about:
- How climate change impacts our (BIPOC folks) lives.
- How climate change is changing future job opportunities.
The first webinar is on April 21 at 10:00 AM Pacific. More information can be found in the attached flyer and at https://www.gtsummitexpo.com/pocigs.
K-State Research and Extension
April 22nd
5:30-8:00 pm
April EMN Adv Training – Exploring the Naturalist Tradition: A Legacy of Passion, Prose, and Poetry. To sign up and learn more about this event click on this link.
Natural Grocers —Kid Friendly DIY Make Your Own Herb Window Box
April 22nd at 11:00 am on TEAMS platform
Presenter: DeAnna Hatch, Phd
Materials:
- Plastic shoe box or rectangular shaped planter
- Pebbles or rocks approximately 1/2 inch diameter size – 2-3 cups worth
- Soil – ideally organic, but any is ok
- Seeds for small window sized herb plants
- Suggestions – oregano, thyme, mints
- If you have a bigger window spot – lemon balm, basal, lemongrass
- Edible flowers – nasturtiums, violas, Johnny-jump-ups, and pansies
- Optional – a cute little watering pot that you can keep handy
- Suggestions – oregano, thyme, mints
Natural Grocers — Nutritional Presentation
The Ultimate Food Fight: Organics
April 22nd at 3:00 pm on TEAMS platform
Presenter: DeAnna Hatch, PhD
Why going organic is good4u, the environment & the economy.
Organics are becoming more and more popular, and rightly so! There are many reasons to love organics–pesticide-free, non-GMO, nutrient-dense, good4 the planet, good4 the economy and… good4u! Join us for this inspiring class as we reveal the unsustainable and broken nature of America’s food system and why going organic is the most important food fight of them all.
DeAnna Hatch (Dr. Dee) has been part of the health food revolution for more than 30 years. Dr. Hatch has her bachelor’s in chemistry and her PhD in Pharmacognosy. She worked for seven years on the manufacturing side of the nutritional supplement industry, doing things such as product literature support, quality assurance, and testing protocols. Dr. Hatch is also certified as a traditional herbalist from the North Carolina School of Natural Healing.
Lawrence Farmers’ Market
April 24th
We are partnering with United Way of Douglas County and their youth volunteer affinity group, as part of their Global Youth Service Day 2021 programming, to bring you Information and Take-Home Activities — available at the Community Booth at the market on Saturday April 24.
Event link: https://www.lawrencefarmersmarket.org/event/earth-day-2021/
Celebrate Earth Month by giving back to the Kansas River! — 7th Annual Kansas River Cleanup in Lawrence
Saturday, April 24th
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
North 2nd St. and Locust Ave.
Info and RSVP link – https://forms.gle/QhPmjdmRB6Totf4t6
Celebrate Earth Month by giving back to the Kansas River! Join Friends of the Kaw and our partners – the City of Lawrence, the Lawrence Community Shelter, and The Merc Coop – to clean up the riverbank below Bowersock dam in Lawrence! We’ll meet in the city parking lot at N. 2nd St. and Locust St. where we’ll divide into teams then clean the north and south banks. Wear sturdy shoes that can get dirty and bring gloves and water to drink. Extra water will be available as well as snacks provided by The Merc! RSVP is requested. Contact Kim Bellemere at kim.bellemere@gmail.com with questions.
Grassland Heritage Foundation
Saturday, April 24th
1:00pm-4:00pm
www.grasslandheritage.org/blackjack
Join Grassland Heritage Foundation, Native Lands, LLC, Kansas Biological Survey, and Jayhawk Audubon Society on Saturday, April 24th from 1 PM- 4 PM at Black Jack Battlefield for an Earth Day Celebration! We will be hosting an educational day of planting prairie plants, engaging in scientific research, and removing invasive plants. This is a great event for folks of all ages interested in learning more about the work that we do each and every day to help support and care for our wild spaces!
There will be several stations and booths that feature different aspects of prairie management and wildlife that you can visit. A highlight of the event is the planting of inoculated plants for a Kansas Biological Survey research project studying the effects of mycorrhizal fungi on prairie restorations- a great way to get involved in prairie research!
This event will be held outdoors and masks are required for all participants! All activities will be held while maintaining adequate social distancing.
Baker Bird Walk
May 1st
8:00–10:00 am
Start your day off right with a guided bird walk through the Baker Wetlands with Dr. Roger Boyd. Masks required. Meet at the Baker Wetlands Discovery Center.
Monarch Watch
May 6-8
https://monarchwatch.org/openhouse/
Monarch Watch’s annual Spring plant sale and fundraiser will be online this year! We will have dozens of plants available to satisfy your butterfly gardening needs, including several types of milkweed for monarchs. Check our Open House website for updates, or sign up for updates at https://monarchwatch.org/subscribe
Celebrate Self-Care!
This class leans towards a gentle beginners style with some options to go deeper into certain poses. We take it slow and give attention to breath-work as we move. Set up a yoga mat if you have one (a thick towel for padding if not) and additionally please have handy two thick blankets or towels.
Sally Birmingham is a Lawrence area yoga instructor with 200hr Registered Yoga Teacher Certification and 15hr Trauma Informed Yoga Certification. Other interests of Sally’s include art, sustainable farming, herbal medicine, and organizing with Girls Rock Lawrence.
You can find Sally’s and other classes currently offered online, including free community yoga on Mondays, at Be Moved Studio. Contact Sally: sbirmi@gmail.com
Home Gardening for Health and Self-Sufficiency
Farmer and educator, Pantaleon Florez III helps first time gardeners understand the basics of growing their own food. We discuss seed starting, soil health, and breakdown all that farmer jargon on the back of seed packets. We also touch on issues of food security, food sovereignty, and people power.
Pantaleon Florez III is a farmer, independent researcher, and educator who runs Maseualkualli Farms in North Lawrence. The farm is a no-till and no fossil fuel project that produces fruit, veggies, and many kinds of herbs. For information on no-contact, weekly produce delivery text the farm line at 785-274-9848.
Tour the PermaCommons
The PermaCommons is a cooperatively-managed permaculture demonstration garden in east Lawrence. The garden is part of the Common Ground program, which turns under-utilized City land into food-growing gardens.
In this video, garden manager, Laura O’Dell takes us on a tour of PermaCommons, explains the benefits of permaculture, and how the community can get learn from and get involved in the garden.
For more on the PermaCommons email Laura: lodell01@gmail.com.
Finding Creativity During COVID-19, a Poetry Workshop
This session is in connection with the long history of poetry at Earth Day. Mercedes Lucero will offer poetry as a way to work through COVID-19 stressors, and guide viewers through creative writing and expression.
Mercedes Lucero is the author of Stereometry (2018, Another New Calligraphy), an interactive poetic curriculum that uses arithmetic’s orderliness to manage a time filled with loss and near loss. She is also the author of the chapbook In the Garden of Broken Things (2016, Flutter Press), which includes “The Possible Causes of Your Suffering,” a finalist for Glimmer Train’s “Very Short Fiction” Award. She is the winner of the 2017 Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award for Poetry and has received several Pushcart Prize nominations. In 2017, she received honors from KC Studio, a lifestyle magazine dedicated to art and culture in Kansas City. Her poem, “I wonder why they never taught us about Sylvia Mendez,” was a finalist for the Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry and her piece “Model Survivors,” published by Jellyfish Review was recently selected by Hanif Abdurraqib to be included in the 2019 Best of the Net Anthology. Other work of hers has been featured on The Project on the History of Black Writing and published widely including in New Orleans Review, New Ohio Review, Puerto del Sol, Fourteen Hills, Paper Darts, The Chicago Tribune’s Printers Row Journal, The Pinch, and Heavy Feather Review among others.
MORE WAYS TO CELEBRATE IN DOUGLAS COUNTY!
- TAKE A TREE TOUR of South Park or Lawrence Rotary Arboretum
- Together these sites are home to more than 50 species of trees!
- Access an interactive map of each site to take a self-guided tour. How many species can you find?
- READ A BOOK
- The Lawrence Public Library has created several book lists to celebrate Earth Day all year round.
- Kids: Environment, Climate, and Sustainability Non-fiction Titles
- Kids: Environment, Climate, and Sustainability Fiction Titles
- Kids: Environment, Climate, and Sustainability Picture Books
- Young Adults: Environment, Climate, and Sustainability Non-fiction Titles
- Teens: Eco-fiction and Climate-fiction Titles
- Adults: True Power for Climate Recovery Titles
- The Lawrence Public Library has created several book lists to celebrate Earth Day all year round.
Previous Earth Day Reports