For the love of the planet: How to celebrate Earth Day 2023 in the suburbs
On Saturday, environment-minded volunteers from around the suburbs will join more than a billion people worldwide to celebrate, enhance and protect our planet on the 53rd annual Earth Day.
You can be among them.
Between volunteering with your local forest preserve, attending your town's park district event and keeping the celebration going on Arbor Day, there are several ways to celebrate Earth Day this year.
Here's how some groups are taking part, why they're doing it and how you can join in.
Forest preserves
The best time to plant an oak tree is 100 years ago - or today.
That's the mentality that Robb Cleave of the Forest Preserve District of Kane County said the district has been taking every Earth Day for several decades now.
Each April, the district invites the public out to a forest preserve for a mass planting. Last year, in what Cleave described as a “wet, muddy, excellent time,” hundreds of people came together despite a night of rain to plant 500 oak trees at the Elburn Forest Preserve. It was the district's first planting event since the start of the pandemic.
“It rained so hard the night before the event that a lot of the holes were actually full of water,” he said. “Every event proposes different challenges, but the planting went great.”
This year, the district is inviting anyone and everyone to Tekakwitha Woods Forest Preserve to plant trees and shrubs. The staff will pre-dig the holes. Volunteers will be asked to place the plants, tamp-down dirt and add water and mulch.
“The goal is to take an area that needs a little extra TLC and provide a large-scale planting to help restore the area,” said Cleave, who is the volunteer coordinator for the district. “Sometimes we plant in old agricultural fields, where we're restoring and turning agriculture back into prairie or woodlands, and that's what we're going to be doing at Tekakwitha is turning what used to be woodland, back into woodland.”
With 500 trees and shrubs to put in the ground, Saturday's event will go from 9 a.m. until every plant is placed. While registration isn't required, groups of 10 or more are asked to contact Cleave at cleaverobb@kaneforest.com to give the district a heads-up.
“We like to say that every day is Earth Day and we invite people to come out and get involved in our service and get out and enjoy the preserves,” Cleave added. “Looking around Kane County, there's amazing events, whether you're planting trees, whether you're picking up garbage, whether you're going to festivals. I would encourage residents to get out there and enjoy the celebration of Earth Day that's going on in their neighborhoods.”
Around the suburbs, more forest preserve district Earth Day events can be found at the links below:
Kane County: tinyurl.com/KaneCountyEarthDay
Cook County: tinyurl.com/CookCountyEarthDay
DuPage County: tinyurl.com/DuPageCountyEarthDay
McHenry County: tinyurl.com/McHenryCountyEarthDay
Lake County: tinyurl.com/LakeCountyEarthDay
Will County: tinyurl.com/WillCountyEarthDay
Local park districts
Most park districts are hosting celebrations where families can pick up some eco-friendly practices, take part in crafts like birdhouse building and even go on a nature scavenger hunt.
Naperville Park District is hosting its annual Earth Day Fair from 1-4 p.m. Sunday at the Fort Hill Activity Center.
At the Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg, the park district will feature worm composting demonstrations, wildflower plantings and seed bomb making Sunday from 12-4 p.m.
In Vernon Hills, the park district is putting on an afternoon of activities and education Thursday from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Century Park Pavilion. The day will end with a nature scavenger hunt followed by a walk with staff through Century Park Arboretum.
Fischer Farm in Bensenville - believed to be one of the oldest remaining homesteads in DuPage County - is also hosting volunteers Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.
The park district will host community members who can come out and help get the farm's garden and crop areas ready for planting. Participants can expect light maintenance and compost spreading.
Manager Christine Shiel added that with the urban area that surrounds the farm, waste collection will be needed near the farm's perimeter.
“Earth Day at Fischer Farm is about engaging people in understanding the intersection between agriculture and our natural environment,” Shiel said in an email. “We're celebrating our beautiful planet by preparing some spaces for food production while at the same time cleaning up the larger natural areas that have been preserved from development.”
The district is also hosting a free e-cycle and shredding event Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Water Park parking lot, located at 1100 West Wood Street. Community members can shred paper documents and recycle old electronics as well as lightbulbs and batteries.
Electronics recycling events like these save landfill space while allowing for the recovery and re-use of valuable materials like copper, aluminum and certain plastics, said Todd Linder, the district's manager of facilities and special events.
Arbor Day
A week after Earth Day, environmental celebrations continue on Arbor Day, a holiday that celebrates the planting, upkeep and preservation of trees. This year, Arbor Day falls on Friday, April 28.
The Morton Arboretum will celebrate with its annual plant sale, spanning from April 27 through 29. One of the largest plant sales in the region, approximately 32,000 plants - chosen by Arboretum experts - will be available.
The sale includes perennials for shade and sun, native plants, trees, shrubs and vegetables and will support the Arboretum's scientific research, conservation work and tree collection, according to its website.
The Arlington Heights Park District will host its annual Arbor Day celebration April 28 from 9:30-11 a.m. at Hasbrook Park. Students from St. Peter's Lutheran School will put on a special performance before the Arbor Day Drawing Contest winners are announced and artwork is displayed.
Jenny Whidden is a climate change and environment writer working with the Daily Herald through a partnership with Report For America supported by The Nature Conservancy. To help support her work with a tax-deductible donation, see dailyherald.com/rfa.