Earth Day Happenings

April 22nd is Earth Day, and as the world is slowly opening up again to the possibility of a time after Covid-19, there are many fun ways to get involved this year and help clean up our planet. From park/forest clean ups to educational opportunities to playdates helping teach the next generation about the care of Mother Earth, Chicagoland is offering numerous events to show support this Earth Day.

Chicagoland Events

There are so many exciting events happening this Earth Day. This list does not contain all of them, so feel free to reach out to your local forest preserve or village hall to ask about local events also. Here are some of the events happening in the Chicagoland area.

• April 16 (10-12) – Join the Chicago Rotary Club for a morning cleanup of Grant Park.
• April 20 (4-5pm) – Palatine Library is offering an hour of Earth Day related stories, science and activities for ages 4-7. Sign up begins 4/6.
• April 21 (10:30-12) – If you have kids that love nature, there will be a Nature Play Date at Lincoln Marsh in the Prairie Patch Play Area with activities and open play. Afterwards, there is a picnic lunch.
• April 21 (1-1:30) – Come learn how to recycle and create art out of recycled materials at Naper Settlement.
• April 22 (1-3) – Clean up litter in Schiller Woods – East. We will provide all of the supplies needed.
• April 22 (11-1) – BackYard Nature Center is hosting an Earth Day Celebration at Erickson Woods in Winnetka. There will be hiking, stick carving, nature play and more.
• April 22 (3:30-4:45) – Trailside Museum of Natural History is hosting After School Earth Day Activities of planting a tree, making a bird feeder or recycled art.
• April 22 (10-2) – Clean up litter in Sauk Trail Woods – Central. We will provide all of the needed supplies.
• April 22 (3:30-5:30) – There will be Earth Day Activities offered at Century Park Pavilion all afternoon for families.
• April 23 (11-2) – Clean up litter in Beaubien Woods. We will provide all of the needed supplies.
• April 23 (12-3) – Crabtree Nature Center is hosting family-friendly Earth Day Activities in their three acre nature play area.
• April 24 (All Day) – There are so many fun Earth Day events happening at Brookfield Zoo.

Other Ways to Love our Planet

If you are unable to make one of the above events or a local one in your area, there are other ways to get involved this Earth Day. As noted in our Earth Day post from two years ago, attending an event is not the only way you can show love to our planet. Other ways to be involved are:

Start Your Own Compost

Find out how much garbage you can reduce by placing all of your food scraps into a compost bin instead.

Recycle Textiles

Clean out your closets and dresser this Earth Day and donate all items no longer needed to your closest CTR bin or partner resale store.

Pick Up Trash in Your Neighborhood

Simply step outside your front door to help care for our planet. Go on a family walk with a trash bag and gloves and see what litter you can help clean up around your neighborhood.

Plant Flowers to Attract Bumblebees and Butterflies

Look up which flowers attract butterflies and bumblebees and plant them in your yard to promote the longevity of these species and pollination.

To read more about these ideas on caring for our planet, click on the link above. And if you know of any other events happening in your area, please share them by commenting on the social media post so we can add them to our list. There are many simple ways to get involved and if we all work together and do our part, they all add up to big changes for our planet.