Families gather for Earth Day activities

Evanston Ecology Center hosts local environmental orgs

By ASTRY RODRIGUEZ daily senior staffer @astry_tpwk

At Evanston Ecology Center’s Earth Day Celebration Saturday morning, environmental organizations taught ecological issues. Families engaged in sustainabilityfocused kids’ activities while local businesses sold food, sweets, plants and handmade accessories Saturday morning.

The event aimed to promote sustainability efforts and celebrate Earth Day and included over 15 organizations that were set up around the event. Organizations such as the Evanston Environmental Association, Climate Action Evanston and the Evanston Northshore Bird Club spoke with attendees about their advocacy work and spread awareness about climate issues and animal preservation.

Evanston’s solid waste coordinator Brian Zimmerman said his team attended the celebration to advocate for sustainability initiatives from the city, like Evanston’s new off-season food and yard waste collection pilot as part of the city’s composting program.

“We came out to promote some of the sustainabilityrelated initiatives that the city is trying to push forward,” said Zimmerman. “(We’re) trying to build some awareness around those things and get some engagement from local community members.”

Outdoor activities featured free books, an interactive bubble station and scavenger hunts. One scavenger hunt sent participants searching for animal figurines hidden around the area, and another pushed attendees to look for items found in nature, like trees, birds, worms and other species.

Katie Knappenberger, who brought her three- and six-year-old children to the event, said her family engaged in many activities both “cool” and environmentally informative.

“One of them is learning how to sort the recycling, which is very age

» See EARTH DAY, page 6