Earth Day events

While Earth Day officially takes place Tuesday, schools and organizations across Lake County have planned programs beyond one day to focus more on the environment.

Here is a list of events planned across Lake County.

Saturday

• The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County and Waste Management Recycle America will partner to hold a free Earth Day open house from 9 a.m. to noon at Waste Management Recycle America Educycle Center, 30869 N. Route 83, Grayslake.

Tour the facility, see live demonstrations and find out where your recycled items go after they are collected at the curb. Participate in hands-on activities for kids, win prizes and meet "Bubba" the Artbus and create recycled art.

Visitors also can meet educators from Waste Management Recycle America, Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, Lake County Forest Preserve, Lake County Farm Bureau and Artworks Children's Museum.

And, vote for a favorite in the "Picture a World with Less Waste" poster contest, featuring posters designed by Lake County kids.

• Lindenhurst will honor Earth Day by giving residents a look behind the scenes of village government.

The annual event will kick off with a village-wide cleanup starting at 9 a.m. at village hall.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., village exhibitors from the Lindenhurst Public Works/Street Department, Lake Villa Fire and Rescue, Lindenhurst Lakes Commission, Lindenhurst Environmental Activity and Education Commission will have booths set up.

Activities also will include a tours of the wastewater plant and police department and a tree planting at 11:30 a.m. Families can receive a cloth bag if they bring 10 plastic bags to recycle. There also will be plant and daffodil coffee cup sales, a 50/50 raffle and free mulch and compost available.

Children's activities will begin at 10 a.m. and include Nut Hunt, bingo, cookie decorating and face painting.

Sunday

• Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 29700 N. St. Mary's Road, Libertyville, invites the community to its Care of Creation Eco-Fair from 2 to 5 p.m.

Activities will include electronic recycling of printers, computers, televisions, cell phones and more and ink cartridge recycling. Proceeds from every printer, fax and copier cartridge collected will benefit Habitat for Humanity Lake County.

Help clean up St. Mary's Road between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. And scheduled at 2:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., see "Trashed," the film by Chicago resident Bill Kirkos that investigates the garbage business. A discussion will take place after each showing.

There will be interactive centers presenting eco-friendly products ranging from school-lunch containers to reusable shopping bags. Learn more about prairie and wetlands planting and restoration, highlighting the multi-year project to restore the ecosystem on the south end of the Holy Cross property. And, there will be children's games and activities.

Tuesday

• The nation's first clean air mobile museum that teaches children to be environmentally friendly will debut at Butterfield Elementary School in Libertyville.

School children will visit the traveling museum, which is a 45-foot Clean Air Club bus that runs on biodiesel fuel.

The bus features hands-on, interactive exhibits, which teach children about renewable fuels and suggests ways they can help protect the environment.

Dignitaries invited to the event include U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, State Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr., and Libertyville Village President Jeff Harger. District 70 contracts with Lakeside Transportation, which runs buses on biofuel.

• Copeland Manor fourth-graders will plant seeds and cut buckthorn at area forest preserves.

Students will visit the Almond Marsh from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday and from 9 to 11 a.m. and noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Also on Tuesday, Copeland Manor students will participate in a Waste-Free Lunch Day. Students will be encouraged to bring lunches with items that can be eaten, reused, recycled or composted.

• Adler Park students, along with members of the Libertyville Town and Country Garden Club will celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day at the school, 1740 N. Milwaukee Ave. The project will run from 12:30 to 2:45 p.m.

First-graders will work with leaf pounding. Second grade will decorate flower pots. Third grade will pound flowers. Fourth grade will decorate flower pots, and fifth grade is to be decided.

• Antioch High School will hold an Earth Day Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the school, 1133 Main St. Various exhibitors and groups will feature tables. Students, staff and local elementary students will attend.

April 26

• The village of Lake Zurich welcomes groups to help clean up the village parks for Earth Day. Volunteers will start at 9 a.m. and start lunch at 11:30 a.m.

Work will include picking up garbage and fallen debris, raking and bagging leaves, and overall park beatification. Bring any tools you may want to use for the day. Gloves are recommended. The village will supply the trash bags.

Among parks volunteers will work include Paulus Park, Breezwald Park, Oak Ridge Marsh, Old Mill Grove & Staples Park, Chestnut Corners/Hunters Creek, Bristol Trails Park, Wicklow East, Kuechman Park, Manor Park, Braemar Park and Whispering Creek Trail.

For more information, contact recreation supervisor Rob Hammon at (847) 438-5792 or at Hammon@volz.org.

April 27

• Vernon Area Public Library District, member of the Clean Air Counts Campaign, will hold its second annual Earth Day Fair from noon to 2 p.m. at the library, 300 Olde Half Day Road, Lincolnshire. Registration is not required.

Visit local villages, park districts, garden clubs and area environmental groups as they share information about their organization, discuss environmental topics and offer ways you can help. Enjoy organic snacks, green giveaways and raffles, an animal exhibit, worm bin exhibit and the Field Museum Soil Adventure Mobile.

There will be an Earth Day scavenger hunt at 1 p.m. and a tree planting ceremony at 1:30 p.m.

Booths will include Bubba the Art Bus from Art Works, Buffalo Grove Garden Club, Chelle Design Group Ltd., ComEd, Lake County Forest Preserves and Ryerson Woods, Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District, Lincolnshire Garden Club, Long Grove and Kildeer Garden Club, Long Grove Park District, SWALCO, Shaklee Sergeant Health and Wellness Solutions, Sierra Club, State Representative Kathy Ryg, Trader Joe's, Village of Buffalo Grove and the Village of Lincolnshire.

• The library will provide patrons with the option of purchasing a Live Green! reusable library bag made from revolutionary, high-tech, non-woven polyprolene that is reusable and degrades more easily than plastic when disposed of. Patrons can purchase a bag for $1 at the Patron Services Desk beginning Tuesday.

All week at CLC

• Earth Week activities will run Saturday through April 26 at the College of Lake County Grayslake campus. Activities are free and open to the public. For more information, call Kelly Cartwright at (847) 543-2792.

Saturday: At 10 a.m., the college's Environmental Club will join other clubs to host the second Campus Clean-Up. Wear closed toe shoes and clothes that can get dirty. Bring work gloves and meet at the C-Wing entrance.

Monday: A Prairie Talk and Walk will begin at noon in room A124A. Biology instructor Mark Coykendall will present plants of the tall grass prairie followed by a walk through the college's own prairie restoration site.

Biology instructors Bob Remedi and Shane Jones will share some of the discoveries they made leading field study classes along stretches of the Appalachian Trail at 3 p.m. at room A248.

Biology instructor Betsy Meyer will present pictures and experiences that explore Australian wildlife at 7 p.m. in room C005.

Tuesday: Biology instructor Elisabeth Martin will give an overview of fair trade and discuss the impact it has on workers, their families and communities. Her program will begin at noon in room A124A.

Then at 7 p.m. in room C005, learn about the future of nuclear energy and the issues involved at a discussion panel.

Wednesday: Anni Gossmann, math instructor and bird watcher, will demonstrate bird vocalizations and explain how to attract birds and identify various species at 3 p.m. in room A248.

At 7 p.m. in room C005, Mike Corn, biology professor emeritus, and Rob Carmichael, curator/director of the Wildlife Discovery Center of Lake Forest and adjunct biology instructor, will present a kid-friendly, up close and personal introduction to snakes and other reptiles. The program includes visits from turtles, king snakes and a 14-foot python.

Thursday: "Waiting on the World to Change … The Global Climate Crisis" will begin at 3 p.m. in room A248. Mary Urban, chemistry instructor, will delve into the realities of global warming and present scientific data on climate change and the most recent findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

At 7 p.m. in room C005, biology instructor Kelly Cartwright will discuss her recent wildlife escapades on a research trip to Kenya, focusing on rhino conservation issues in Africa.

April 25: Dragonflies of Illinois will be the topic from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room T326. Craig Stettner, biology instructor at Harper College and coordinator of the Dragonfly Monitoring Network, will discuss the life history and identification of the dragonflies and damselflies found in this area.

From 2 to 4 p.m. in room T326, Mark Spreyer, executive director of the Stillman Nature Center and adjunct biology instructor, will reveal the truth about North American owls and hawks. Slides and special feathered guests will illustrate who's who.

April 26: At 9 a.m., experience hands-on environmental restoration at Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve. Bring drinking water and work gloves and meet at the Savanna entrance at the corner of Washington and Atkinson streets. Register by April 23 by calling (847) 543-2792.

Ongoing

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has created the Great Lakes Earth Day Challenge to collect and properly dispose of old electronics or "e-waste" and unused, expired or unwanted medicine.

The organization's goal is to collect at least one million pounds of electronic waste and one million pills to keep contaminants out of the Great Lakes.

To find a collection event, go to the Great Lakes Earth Day Challenge Web site at www.epa.gov/greatlakes/earthday2008.

• Lake Zurich Middle School South's student group, the Earthly Eagles, are selling reusable cloth tote bags for $3 each or two for $5. So far, the group has sold 800 bags.

The group is led by Mary Dooms and Lisa Linder. To order a bag, e-mail earthlyeaglesclass@lz95.org or call (847) 540-2727 or (847) 540-2730.

The school's recycling club also previously celebrated Earth Day April 15 by planting two trees. A Pin Oak tree and Norway Maple tree and supplies were donated to the recycling club by the Lake Zurich Home Depot.