The now-famous Earthrise photo of Earth was taken from lunar orbit on December 24, 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission. This startling view of our little blue-green planet immediately and profoundly shifted our perspective on Earth and our place in the universe. Very quickly, it helped inspire the environmental movement and the fostering of a sense of our planet’s fragility—and within a mere 16 months, helped give rise to the very first Earth Day, observed in the U.S. by 20 million people. This celebration, now fully global, has more than a billion people in over 190 countries participating.
This year the West Kootenay Climate Hub is turning a single Earth Day event into a full community-wide Earth Week festival of events, in and around Nelson, running from the official Earth Day, Tuesday April 22, to Monday April 28.
“The theme of this year’s global earth week is “Our Power, Our Planet,” says Judith Fearing, one of the Climate Hub volunteer coordinators. We celebrate the amazing resilience of our planet when We use our power to create a healing environment.“
“When we started organizing for this year’s event, our brainstorming team spread the net out to everyone in the community, knowing that there are so many groups and individuals who want to do something around their passions and skills,” says Suzanne Simoni with the Climate Hub. “The creative ideas that have come back are amazing , from choir music to film and dance , from nature walks to solution cafes, from restaurants offering earth friendly meals to Birding 101, and more—just check out the calendar on our website to see the incredible variety of activities that people can enjoy.” https://www.earthweeknelson.ca
Taghum Hall is holding its annual Earth Day Celebration on Saturday April 26, with local food, music, crafts and activities for all ages.
The West Kootenay Climate Hub is organizing a community parade on Sunday April 27, ending at the Youth Centre with music, games, food and booths. Come, dress up and walk, dance or ride your decorated non-motorized vehicle in the parade so that we all feel inspired and supported in this journey towards healing our planet together.
For specific information on the various events, including dates, times and locations—and to register to be in the parade or individuals to volunteer—please go to the website https://www.earthweeknelson.ca