The City of Evanston invites residents to both celebrate and protect the planet in honor of Earth Day and Arbor Day on April 26.
The day will begin with a volunteer effort to clean up City parks, followed by a tree planting and community celebration at Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, 1655 Foster St.
Park Clean-up • 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Volunteers of all ages are invited to kick off the City’s Earth Day and Arbor Day festivities by helping to clean up a City park. Participants can sign up for one of seven different clean-up sites on the Volunteer Evanston website, www.cityofevanston.org/resident/volunteer
Volunteers will be provided with all the supplies necessary to clean up their site, as well as a free food voucher to exchange at the Fleetwood-Jourdain celebration.
Tree Planting – 11:30 a.m.
Residents are invited to cast their votes at engageevanston.org to decide which tree species will be planted on the grounds of the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center in honor of Earth Day and Arbor Day. Residents can choose from four tree species, American Hornbeam, Cornelian Cherry Dogwood, Gingko or Eastern Hop Hornbeam. Each species has been evaluated by City Forestry staff and determined to be suitable for growth at the planting site.
The winner will be “treevealed” and planted on April 26 at 11:30 a.m. to kick off the celebration. Voting ends on April 24.
Earth Day and Arbor Day Celebration • 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
After the unveiling of Fleetwood-Jourdain’s newest tree, the City will host an Earth Day and Arbor Day Celebration, including art; recycling, compost and rain barrel displays; games and more. Food and refreshments will be available.
Representatives from ComEd, Nicor and CEDA will also be on hand to provide residents with information regarding energy efficiency programs and financial assistance.
SAGE and EEA Earth Day Art Contest Awards • 12:30 p.m.
Awards and certificates for the 2014 Earth Day Art Contest will be presented to the top three individuals with winning entries from each grade level, K-8, at the Earth Day and Arbor Day Celebration. The contest is sponsored by Schools Are Gardening in Evanston (SAGE) and the Evanston Environmental Association (EEA).