Earth Day - a Local Celebration

Are you looking for something easy and free to do for Earth Day that will appeal to everyone in the family? If so, come to a local celebration at the 21 Acres Center for Local Food and Sustainable Living and get inspired by this event to kick-start a family-wide conversation and plan to do something good for the Earth – beyond just Earth Day. 

Start making a difference by joining the international Earth Day celebration a bit early, Saturday, April 20th. Bring your environmentally conscious family, friends and neighbors to a special afternoon gathering and potluck community dinner at 21 Acres  to meet like-minded locals, gather helpful resources and galvanize people here to the environmental movement. Activities begin at noon, rain or shine, with potluck dinner starting at 5:30 pm.   

Take  part in one or all of the activities:
Noon to 5 pm .......Information Booths Building Tours and Self-Guided Farm Tours
Noon ....................Native Plant and Farm Walk
1:00 pm ............... Compost and Worm Bin Demonstration
2:00 pm ............... Farm Quest Orienteering
3:00 pm ............... Honeybee Q & A with Honey Tasting
4:00 pm ............... Farm Quest Orienteering
4:00 pm ............... Kids Farm Exploration Activity
5:30 to 7 pm ........ Community Potluck Dinner Bring a dish to share that features at least one (hopefully more) local, organic, seasonal ingredient.

(Don't forget the 21 Acres Market is open Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

Meet new friends and partners in promoting environmental stewardship. Share your experiences. Learn more about what you can do. The event is free and open to the public. Bring your dish to share along with your own tableware and beverage. We encourage everyone to “pack it in, take it out.”

Throughout Earth Month, have a conversation with your children and friends, whether over the dinner table or at the coffee shop. Try something new to lessen your impact on the Earth or to make a positive contribution to the environment; even if it is just one thing a week for a couple of weeks, you will discover even the simplest things can make a difference. Scientists have indicated that climate change and global warming can be slowed, and perhaps even reversed if each of us do our part to conserve energy, limit green house gas emissions and source products more sustainably.  

The organizations participating in this local Earth Day event are encouraging people to take each of the ten steps below to help address climate change during the coming month.

1.     Take a family pledge to walk someplace instead of taking the car once each week during the month.
2.     Consider carpooling at least one day during the month.
3.     Start a compost bin in the kitchen and a compost pile someplace in the yard.
4.     Make a concerted effort to buy products with less packaging during each trip to the store.
5.     Try buying breakfast cereal, or some other product in bulk, to limit buying packaged goods.
6.     Pledge to use reusable grocery bags for every trip to the store during the month.
7.    Set your thermostat to 68 degrees or less during the daytime, and 55 degrees before going to sleep (or when you're away for the day).
8.     Make sure every bulb in the house is switched to a compact fluorescent.
9.     Unplug all family members’ phone chargers when not in use every day of the month.
10.  Reuse bath towels or other slightly used items to limit wash loads and to conserve water

21 Acres Center for Local Food and Sustainable Living is a comprehensive campus with a farm, school, commercial kitchen, market and green-built facility at 13701 NE 171st Street, Woodinville, WA  98072. All the programming and services offered through 21 Acres focus on the areas of Growing, Eating and Living.  Click or call for more information; 21acres.org, 425-481-1500.