Do you talk a good Earth Day game? Can’t stand the trash that blows around Columbus throughout the Spring?

Earth Day of course is this Saturday and here’s your chance(s) to take action. Both Green Columbus and Columbus Recreation and Parks Department are hosting events where you can, for instance, fish in a recently stocked Linden pond or spend the day at Genoa Park visiting booths from 40 local environmentally friendly organizations while listening to bands, sipping on some cold beer and sample food trucks.

Green Columbus, a volunteer-driven nonprofit seeking to improve equitable environmental outcomes for people of Central Ohio, says they coordinate the “largest volunteer-driven service event for Earth Day in the country.” The event starts at noon at Genoa Park (on the bank of the Scioto River adjacent to COSI) and goes until 9 pm:

• 5 exciting local bands
• Children’s Compost Clubhouse crafts, COSI science demos, and face painting
• Electric vehicles on display
• Get moving! Guided fitness activities and free CoGo Bikes
• Dog agility demonstrations
• Food trucks for everyone: Black Kahawa Coffee, Cate’s Steakhouse, Dos Hermanos, Dystopian Vegan, J-Pops, Paddy Wagon, Pitabilities & Too Good Eats
• Middle West cocktails and Great Lakes beer

For questions regarding Earth Day volunteering opportunities, service sites, and tool & supply pickup, contact Dominique at worksites@greencbus.org.

For questions regarding tree, plant, or seed pickup, contact Julie at juliecsmiley@gmail.com.

For questions regarding the Earth Day Columbus Celebration at Genoa Park on 4/22/23, please contact Mariel at mariel@greencbus.org or John at john.mcnamara@greencbus.org.

Green Columbus also tells us, “All of our vendors will be supporting our goal to make Earth Day Columbus a zero-waste event, with a goal of 95% of waste diverted from landfills. Genoa Park is conveniently located for easy access via bike trails and public transit.”

Columbus Recreation and Parks Department will hold a family-friendly Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, as well, from 9 am to 12 pm at Linden Park, 1350 Briarwood Ave.       

There will be a brief ceremony at 9 am, followed by volunteers planting trees and pollinator plugs at Linden Park. Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife staff will lead a fishing activity for the community at the recently-stocked Linden pond, and staff will fillet fish for residents so they can take their fish home with them.

The community is invited to learn more about Earth Day and conservation efforts in Columbus through educational activities provided by partners, including Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW), Sustainable Columbus, Grange Audubon, Keep Columbus Beautiful and Columbus Public Health.

Here’s another Earth Day event and march that really gets the Free Press juices flowing. The Ohio Youth for Climate Justice org, a youth-led movement organizing radical action to address the climate crisis with the focus and urgency that the issue deserves, will once again call on Ohio State to immediately cease investments in the fossil fuel industry. They’ve done this before in ways that make us stand up and cheer! Read more here.

The march begins at 2 pm and starts at Bricker Hall, which is on the Oval. They will march to OSU’s Office of Investments demanding financial transparency regarding all their financial investments in fossil fuels.

If you can’t make any of these wonderful events than we suggest…Pick up a piece of trash! Even better, get a group of friends and make it your own party.