Oakville cleans up and commemorates Earth Day 2024

Today is Earth Day! April 22 every year is an excellent opportunity to celebrate our planet's natural world, biodiversity, and the efforts of all people to care for our environment.

Over the weekend, Oakville commemorated its 33rd annual Earth Day Clean Up when hundreds of dedicated volunteers came out on Saturday morning, April 20, 2024, at more than sixty-five Oakville nature sites to help clean up Oakville's parks and trails.

The event was organized by the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights (OCCPEHR), which leads the annual clean-up and saw dozens of local events set up to make Oakville a greener place.

So what else can you do today on Earth Day? Canada's Earth Day promotional website offers lots of great suggestions for ways to protect the planet both today and throughout the year. We at Oakville News also have some suggestions on things you can do today and in the months to come:

• Get involved as a volunteer or become a member of an environmental organization, like the OCCPEHR.
• Offer to help clean up and green your street or neighbourhood, or start an urban agriculture project
• Organize a carpooling system with your colleagues or encourage them to use active transportation with you.
• Plan an excursion with friends or colleagues to a local producer or farm (or maybe even the Civitan farmers market!)
• Organize a day to pick up used clothing or objects at work and bring them to a thrift store or participate in a barter activity.
• Get involved in your municipality by attending municipal council meetings or by submitting projects related to the environment.
• Invent a rainwater harvesting system for you and your neighbours.
• If possible, set up a worm composting bin at work and encourage your co-workers to sort their compostable materials for the composting bin.
• Become the organizer of your neighbourhood party and make it an environmental party, with selective sorting, water consumption awareness, consumption of local and bio-fair trade food, and greening or cleaning projects.

However you decide to celebrate, why not spend some time in the great outdoors?

Happy Earth Day 2024!