[UPDATED] Earth Month Returns With a Wide Array of In-Person Events in 2022!

Fifty-two years ago, an estimated 20 million Americans came together to celebrate the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. A half a century later we are still faced with serious environmental and health challenges, from an accelerating Climate Crisis to a global pandemic that continues to touch the lives of people around the world.

By Wesley Reutimann

While state and national-level systems change is absolutely needed to address the #ClimateCrisis, there are things each and every one of us can do to help move things forward, from engaging with action-oriented groups to adjusting our purchasing decisions. Social scientists have found that when one person makes a sustainability-oriented decision, other people do too. People are constantly evaluating the choices others are making — whether it be the cars they’re driving or the clothes they’re wearing — and adjusting their behaviors. When we see our friends, family, and colleagues adopting healthier, more sustainable lifestyles, we are more likely to do so, too.

Below is a list of events taking place in Pasadena and neighboring communities where you’ll be able to learn something new, connect with fresh faces, and help your community move forward.

– Saturday, April 2
(And assorted April dates)

– Earth Day Along the San Gabriel River Trail
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Madrid Middle School, 3300 Gilman Rd, El Monte

Kick off your Earth Month festivities with Amigos de los Rios and ActiveSGV. Meet at Madrid Middle School to do some planting and site care. Then join an optional bike ride to Whittier Narrows. If you would like to participate in the bike ride, please bring your bike in good working condition, water, and a helmet.

More info, including a full list of Amigos’ Earth Month native planting events in Pasadena, Monrovia ,and El Monte, can be found here.

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– Monday, April 11

– Take & Make: Miniature Garden Pot with Flowers
10:30 am – While supplies last
1281 Bryant St.
Pasadena, CA 91103

Create a variety of tiny flowers from pipe cleaners then arrange them in a miniature garden pot. Sign up for your kit by calling Linda Vista Branch Library at (626) 744-7278. Sign-ups begin on April 11 at 10:30 am.

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– Friday, April 15

– Take & Make: Miniature Garden Pot with Flowers
10:30 am – While supplies last
1281 Bryant St.
Pasadena, CA 91103

Create a variety of tiny flowers from pipe cleaners then arrange them in a miniature garden pot. Sign up for your kit by calling Linda Vista Branch Library at (626) 744-7278. Sign-ups begin on April 11 at 10:30 am.

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– Sunday, April 17

– Native Planting
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Jackson Elementary School
593 W Woodbury Rd.
Altadena, CA 91001

Native planting volunteer opportunity at Jackson Elementary School.

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– Monday, April 18

– Virtual Electric Vehicle Car Show
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Location: ZOOM
Meeting ID: 837 8430 3198
Passcode: 219708

Join Sustainable Claremont for a virtual electric vehicle car show! Hear first-hand from the owners of two electric vehicles and one plug-in hybrid about their experience with these vehicles, and participate in a live Q&A. We will also feature a virtual test drive to see these cars in action!

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– Friday, April 22

– Pasadena Earth Day Festival
5:00 pm- 8:00 pm
Memorial Park, 85 E Holly St.
Pasadena, CA 91103

Day One is excited that things are getting better and that we can once again come together to host Earth Day! Event activities will include:

• 5:00 pm – 6: 00 pm: City Council Candidate Forum moderated by League of Women Voters Pasadena Area.
• 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Earth Night Bicycle Ride
• 6:00 pm- 8:00 pm: Festival and sustainability expo including live music and vendors.

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– Saturday, April 23

– Sierra Madre Earth Day Festival
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Memorial Park
222 Sierra Madre Blvd
Sierra Madre, CA 91024

The City of Sierra Madre’s Earth Day event will feature a wide range of local community groups focused on environmental issues.

– South Pasadena Garden Tour and Plant Swap
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Various locations in South Pasadena (Click link)

The non-profit group South Pasadena Beautiful and the City of South Pasadena’s Natural Resources and Environmental Commission invite the community to a garden tour and plant swap.

The two gardens, one located at 1017 Oliver Street and the other at 451 Prospect Circle, are both irrigated in part with greywater: water used for washing purposes- laundry, handwashing, showering, and bathing. The plant swap will be held at the South Pasadena Community Garden at 1028 Magnolia Street.

At 1017 Oliver Street, attendees can learn about water conservation rebates, installing greywater systems, vermicomposting, and visit the Ask a Master Gardener table.  Attendees are invited to visit the SPB table at 451 Prospect Circle to learn about the organization’s re-landscaping of the US Post Office at 1001 Fremont Avenue and other projects funded by SPB. (Click for more information).

– City of South Pasadena

• April 21 – Leaf Blower Demonstration
• April 21 – Craft Lab (South Pasadena Library)
• April 23 – Family Story Time (South Pasadena Library)
• April 23 – Compost Giveaway
• April 23 – Greywater Garden Tour & Plant Swap

– Glendale Earth Day Fair
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Artsakh Paseo (Downtown Glendale)
125 North Artsakh
Glendale, CA 91206

Glendale’s Earth Day Pop-Up Fair will feature green business, local food vendors, a bike repair clinic, composting workshop, children’s activities, art exhibition, and local vendors. City Departments and local organizations will also be on hand to share information on local environmental initiatives, how to get involved, and how to reduce your carbon impact.

– Glendora Earth Day Festival
9:00 am- 1:00 pm
Glendora Civic Center
116 E Foothill Blvd
Glendora, CA 91741

Glendora’s annual event is aimed for all ages and staged near the City’s famous, walkable downtown Village district. Activities will include:

• Community bicycle ride
• Workshops:
  • Efficient Irrigation, Water Leaks, & Water Wise Plants
  • Turf Removal: Landscape Design, Irrigation, and Plants
  • Smart Gardening & Composting
• E-bike test rides
• Shuttles:
  • To and from the Dalton Wilderness Area
  • Narrated Eco-Tour of Glendora
• Kids activities:
  • Face painting
  • Bounce house
  • Recycling games
  • Scavenger hunt

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– Sunday, April 24

– Claremont Earth Day Celebration
8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Shelton Park
W Bonita Ave & Harvard Ave N
Claremont, CA 91711

Sustainable Claremont and the City of Claremont invite the public to the first in-person Earth Day celebration since 2019! Activities will include:

• Exhibitor booths from local sustainability organizations
• Hands-on workshops
• Walking tours
• E-bike test rides
• Native plants give away

– All Saints Church
132 N Euclid Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91101

Join All Saints on the lawn, between services. There will be eco-crafts and rabbits for children, while other tables will provide information on subjects such as: separating home food waste for collection or home composting (as now required), responding to the climate crisis, planting sustainable native plants, obtaining financial incentives for home energy and water conservation, caring for rabbits in your home, and making local streets safer for bicycles and pedestrians.  There will also be an environmental art show.

– Highland Park “Right to Shade” Resource Fair
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Sycamore Grove Park
4702 N Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90042

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– Sunday, May 1

– 626 Golden Streets: Mission-to-Mission

9:00 am – 4:00 pm
San Gabriel, Alhambra, South Pasadena

The Golden Streets event is free to the general public. Attendees can start and stop at any point along the route, at any time from 9am to 4pm. Activity zones in each participating community will host live music, cultural performances, family-friendly games and activities, green vendors, zero-emission demo zones, and more!