Although Mother Earth hasn’t treated us kindly this spring, we’re obligated to keep her clean. Earth Day this year is on Sunday, April 22nd, and if you don’t have any plans yet, here are some ways to celebrate:
If you intend to celebrate Earth Day privately, consider the following activities:
Throw an Earth Day dinner party with organic, locally-sourced food. Not only is this a great way to spend time with friends, it also allows you to explore the excellent local goods that Kingston has to offer.
Make an Earth Day resolution. Here are some examples of easy, earth-friendly changes you can make:
– Adopt “Meatless Mondays,” or eat vegetarian a couple days a week.
– Stop buying bottled water.
– Switch from paper to electronic billing.
– Bring your own reusable shopping bags instead of buying plastic ones.
– Leave your car at home a couple days a week and walk, bike, or use public transportation to get where you need to go. Being more active is good for you, too! Bonus!
Research an environmental topic that you want to know more about. Maybe you’ve heard in the news about the decreasing number of monarch butterflies, but you don’t know what’s causing the decline? Or maybe you want to know if Ontario is meeting its greenhouse gas reduction targets? Education is a great first step in becoming a more engaged citizen.
Alternatively, if you want to mingle with your fellow Kingstonians this Earth Day, you’ve got plenty of options:
Earth Day Drum Celebration at the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning. This is a free event (with a suggested donation of $5 to $20) and runs from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. There’s something for everyone, from poetry readings, to yoga, to drum lessons with the Kingston Drum Circle. Click the link for more information!
Earth Day Celebrations – Photography Exhibit at the Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area. April 21st and 22nd, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Smudging Ceremony for Mother Earth at the Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area. Saturday, April 21st from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. This ceremony aims to “offer good thoughts for Mother Earth.” And what’s more appropriate than spending time in nature on Earth Day?
Pitch-In Kingston 2018 with Sustainable Kingston. Due to the recent inclement weather, this event has been extended to Tuesday, April 24th. Click here to register. This year’s clean-up event is focused on cleaning Kingston’s waterways, but cleaning any area makes a difference. There are numerous places to drop off your collected garbage; click here for a map of locations. Sign up, get out there, and make Kingston a cleaner place to live this spring.
Finally, on an unrelated note, there’s exciting news for home decorating aficionados – IKEA recently opened a collection point at 192 Hickson Avenue. Now, Kingstonians can do their IKEA shopping online and ship their goods to the collection point for a flat fee of $29. The fee applies to all purchases, so go crazy, buy an entire living room set, and get it shipped to Kingston for only $29. Quite the bargain, right?
