Earth day is coming up this Friday, April 22 – how do you plan on celebrating? Here are a few ideas for you:
- Give back to the environment by cleaning up a public area, and celebrate the many benefits of trees by assisting the Polk County Conservation staff plant trees in Easter Lake Park. They will teach you the proper techniques for planting trees and give you hands-on experience placing them in the ground.
- Enjoy free admission to the Des Moines Botanical & Environmental Center on Earth Day this Friday.
- Celebrate Earth Day at the Science Center of Iowa’s Earth Day Film Festival. They will have back-to-back showings of IMAX documentary films Born to be Wild, Tornado Alley andWild Ocean – with a discounted price if you see all three! DART will be on hand from noon-3 pm displaying their hybrid-electric diesel bus – the green way to get around in Des Moines! Visit the Science Center of Iowa’s website for showtimes!
You don’t have to be part of an organized event to do your part on Earth Day (and every day). Keep up with the green things you already do and try something new…
- Take a walk and breathe in the fresh air around your neighborhood or at a local park.
- Take Household Hazardous Materials (HHMs) to the Regional Collection Center in Bondurant.
- Purchase more environmentally-friendly products.
- Don’t purchase more than you will need; then use them up.
- Buy products that don’t use so much packaging.
- Use more reusable materials like lunch boxes, sandwich containers, and aluminum water bottles.
- Bag up grass clippings, leaves, sticks and branches and put them in CompostIt! bags.
- Clean up pet waste so it doesn’t wash down the storm sewers and into the rivers!
- Keep your car in good repair so it doesn’t leak oil. Clean up leaks with kitty litter or sand and sweep it up.
- Plant grass and trees so there is no loose dirt on your property.
