Gallatin Valley Earth Day

After the long year that 2020 proved to be, with an endless onslaught of online events and Zoom calls, all Gallatin Valley Earth Day wants to do is have a safe and fun Earth Day festival. So on Saturday, April 17 on the Bozeman Public Library lawn, that’s exactly what it’ll do. “That’s sort of our kickoff for a whole week of events,” said Anne Ready, the chair of the nonprofi t Gallatin Valley Earth Day. “It’s a real festival feel, so we’re going to have a band, so a little background music to make it fun, and we’re also going to have a local food cart or food truck that will be serving some local foods.” GVED hosts a slew of Earth Day events in April and year-round, and has for a couple years since the group formed in 2019. In 2020, GVED celebrated 50 years of Earth Day with online events like online movie screenings, which it will still be hosting this year in addition to the in-person events. But there’s really nothing like people gathering in-person to celebrate the earth, Ready said. A week after its kickoff on April 17, GVED will be hosting another in-person event at Storymill Park on April 24. Sponsored by the Sacajawea Audubon Society, from 10a.m. to 2 p.m., GVED and the Audubon Society will be taking small groups out on walking bird tours in the park, pointing out the animals and their habitats to those who come along. Also on the 24th, weather permitting, GVED and the Bozeman Parks and Recreation Department are planning to have another event at the same time in the 100 Acre Park. That event will highlight different parts of the park, and there will be prizes for kids donated by local businesses. Ready said that many of the inperson events are kid-focused because she and GVED feel it’s important for kids to have a foundational understanding of things they can do to protect the earth. “When people are young, I think it really sets an important foundation for how they think and how they look at things and the actions that mean a lot to them when they become adults,” Ready said. “I just think it’s super important for kids to be aware of how they can feel empowered and how they can make a positive change in our world.” Even since the fi rst GVED Earth Day event, Ready said she’s seen some changes in the Bozeman community. Some of her neighbors, for example, have replaced their lawns with native, drought-tolerant plants, which use far less water than watering a grass lawn does. In addition to the potential for cutting down water usage (and, by extension, water bills), native plants also support native species of bugs and birds. More than anything, Ready said, she wants GVED’s events to inspire hope in the people who attend and participate. “We want to be positive and upbeat and inspiring people to think about and then go ahead and plan and take action on ways to make our earth better in a timely manner,” Ready said. “It’s going to take all of us, and we each can do it in our own unique way. That’s why we have a great variety of events, different events to inspire people.”