Earth Day

Earth Day celebration at Stinson Beach. Photo: Marco Sanchez.

Earth Day 2017 takes place on Saturday, April 22. It’s a great time to celebrate and teach our children the importance of preserving our planet’s resources. Families will find plenty of ways to observe the occasion here in Marin County and the Bay Area, and we've created a list of local events that either celebrate Earth Day or help families learn about nature and the planet.

• My Earth Day Marin
  Various locations throughout Marin County
  Friday, April 14–Wednesday, April 26
  The My Earth Day Marin Coalition will host a wide variety of service projects and activities throughout Marin County in honor of Earth Day. Most events are for all ages and abilities. Visit My Earth Day Marin for more info and a complete list of opportunities.
• Novato Clean & Green Day
  City of Novato Civic Green
  Saturday, April 22, 9 am–1 pm
  Bring the family and celebrate Earth Day by cleaning up our beautiful town. Help remove litter from streets, bike path, parks, creek banks and more. Some supplies will be provided. Meet at Novato Civic Green, 901 Sherman Avenue. Find out more here.
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Earth Day is Friday, April 22. It’s a great time to celebrate and teach our children the importance of preserving our planet’s resources. Teaching our children a few simple habits will help them to grow up preserving the environment through their daily activities. There are many small things your kids can do every day to keep the world cleaner and greener.

Earth Day ideas and activities

• Plant a tree or flowers in the garden. Take your children to a local nursery and pick out a small tree or some flowers that you can plant in your yard or garden. Explain to your children that trees and plants reduce the greenhouse gases and give us cleaner air.
• Use both sides of paper when coloring. Teach your children that when they are doing art projects, like coloring, to use both sides of the paper. Explain to them that using the paper more than once will help save trees.
• Reuse & Recycle. Get the children involved when it comes to recycling and explain to them why it is important. Show them the different types of items that can be recycled and have them help separate trash from recyclables.
• Conserve water. Turn off the faucet when brushing your teeth. As much as 2 gallons of water is wasted when the water is left running while you are brushing your teeth. Also, limit the amount of time when washing hands or in the shower. The best way to teach your kids is by being a good example. Just because we've had plenty of rain this season doesn't mean water is a limitless resource.
• Turn off the lights. Explain to your children that lights, computers, and televisions use energy, and that energy is in short supply, so turning off the lights or TV when they are not in the room is important.

This Thursday, April 22, is Earth Day! At Marin Mommies, we've decided to make it "Earth Week" and focus on conservation, green living, and the environment every day this week. Look for environmentally-themed posts here through Friday, as well as a calendar of Earth Day events for families throughout Marin and the Bay Area.

One of the most immediate and simplist things you can do for the environment is to recycle. But sometimes the task of recycling becomes a little more difficult than just sorting the plastic bottles from the glass and flattening those cardboard boxes. What do you do with batteries? Old worn out Crocs? Flourescent bulbs? Real Simple magazine has a handy online article that literally tells you how to recycle or reuse anything, aptly named "How to Recycle Anything."

In this special "Earth Week" guest post, Melissa Hereford, Marin mompreneur and owner of Marin Kids and Maternity Consignment in San Rafael, offers a few reasons why buying gently used items (and selling or donating yours) is good not only for the wallet but for the environment, too.

Her motto is "Saving the earth, one outfit at a time," and she takes the idea seriously!

As we approach another Earth Day, we find ourselves focusing more and more on the recycling movement with our children, the future of the planet, and the limited space in our landfills in mind! Buying gently worn and gently used items is not only about saving money. That is a wonderful aspect of the practice, but it seems to be ever more important to reduce all the waste inherent in both manufacturing and retail. For example, when you buy gently used items, you: