Earth Day Belt-Line Bike Tour, April 26

Experience Atlanta's BeltLine neighborhoods from the seat of a bicycle on April 26! Now in its second year, this ride will grow with the BeltLine, until one day it spans the full BeltLine loop. Kid's entry is $5, adults 18 and over pay $10, and families are just $20. The ride will start and Gordon White Park and use the new West End Trail, whose first phase is now complete.

Last year's BeltLine Bike Tour attracted a diverse group of 200 bicyclists. This year promises clearer routes and options better suited to a range of riders, from whole families with young children to recreational cyclists to dedicated bike explorers.

Come enjoy Whole Foods-sponsored rest stops and local nonprofits Trees Atlanta and Piedmont Conservancy. Learn about the BeltLine project, a 22 mile loop of transit, trails, and economic development encircling intown Atlanta, through BeltLine Partnership's maps and displays. BeltLine Partnership is also providing reusable drawstring bags, giveaways and coupons.

For more information and registration, visit www.atlantabike.org

Kroger Going Organic for Earth Day

Looking for a way to celebrate Earth Day? Consider going organic. This April, Kroger is making organics more affordable and accessible with Go Organic! for Earth Day, offering consumers major coupons and discounts, fresh details on the benefits of organic products and a chance to win a year's worth of organic groceries.

To find your nearest Kroger, and to learn about the healthful and environmental benefits of organics, visit www.OrganicEarthDay.org

Once at Kroger, individuals can pick up a booklet containing more than $12 in coupons on leading organic products. Consumers can also request their free coupon booklet by calling 1-866-446-6742.

On the Web site, consumers may register for a chance to win organic groceries for a year. Also at the site, visitors can sign up for an online newsletter containing organic tips, information and monthly giveaways.

Go Organic! for Earth Day is the largest-ever national effort to provide education and encourage organic purchases among consumers, with more than 3,500 food retailers, manufacturers and distributors taking part.

Go Organic! for Earth Day is a project of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), Earth Day Network and MusicMatters.

Earth Day Kids Fest, April 18

The 7th Annual Earth Day Kids Fest (EDKF) sponsored by Captain Planet Foundation (CPF) and Chattahoochee Nature Center (CNC) promises to be education and fun rolled into one! Taking place on April 18, 2009, from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at the Chattahoochee Nature Center, this event is a unique and exciting hands-on environmental education event where we encourage youngsters to take the first steps in becoming environmental stewards. Through engaging activities and performances, kids are energized with empowering information, allowing them to lead the way in preserving and protecting our biological diversity and natural resources.

With a spectacular and diverse line-up of edu-tainment on the horizon, the entire day is sure to inspire children to take action, even in the smallest ways, to help save the planet! In fact, this your chance to meet Captain Planet live as he will be on-hand to take photos with budding Planeteers! CPF will have an example of their 2009 initiative, organic gardens as outdoor classrooms, on display as well as a planting activity for children. 

Attendees will also enjoy live musical performances from Laughing Pizza and Lil Peppi. The Think Swiss Climate Trail Exhibition will explain the causes and solutions to global warming. Live animal presentations will bring the outdoors up close and personal. Guests can even paddle a canoe on the CNC Beaver Pond. Numerous other groups and environmental organizations will have booths to help everyone explore eco-themes and create special arts and crafts. 

Additionally, Freshens will provide refreshing smoothies for all kids. The price of admission is $5 per person and children under 2 are free. However, guests who ride their bikes from home will get in free! There will also be free shuttle bus service from St. Francis School near the corner of Willeo/Azalea and Highway 120.

For more information on this annual family event visit www.captainplanetfdn.org or www.chattnaturecenter.org for more details.

Green Day Fest @ Underground, April 27

This spring, metro-Atlanta residents will join together to celebrate the first annual Green Day Fest. Hosted by Underground Atlanta and Enviro Expo USA, Green Day Fest will honor the culmination of Earth Week with a fun-filled day of live music, “green” arts and crafts, and educational activities for all ages. The event will be held at Underground Atlanta on April 27 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will be free and open to the public.

More than ever before, metro-Atlantans are taking steps to live eco-conscious lifestyles that promote sustainability and environmental friendliness. The Green Day Fest is the area’s first large-scale event to celebrate eco-friendly living in a way that is fun and educational for all ages. This event will wrap up many of the area’s smaller celebrations for Earth Day, Earth Week and Arbor Day.

Green Day Fest will include music from nationally-acclaimed acts such as the League of Decency featuring Tommy Dean and special guest vocalist Francine Reed, Barry Richman Band, A1A, The Steve Baskin Band and Tropical Steel Band. Children and adults will have the opportunity to learn more about eco-friendly living through interactive exhibits from local and national companies promoting sustainable  lifestyles. The event will also feature local businesses offering “green” products, arts and crafts.

Dianne Bennett, founder of Enviro Expo USA, comments: “Green Day Fest is a way for us to celebrate the strides we’re making to transform metro-Atlanta into a more sustainable city. We have a long way to go, but this festival is the time to celebrate how far we’ve come in a way that’s fun and educational for everyone.”

Local businesses are invited to showcase their “green” goods and services at the event. To learn more, please contact Dianne Bennett at dianne@enviroexpousa.org. Enviro Expo USA and Underground  Atlanta urge Green Day Fest attendees to take MARTA to the event. More details about the Green Day
Fest can be found at www.enviroexpousa.org.

Recycle Electronics in ATL, April 26

Atlanta City Councilmember Carla Smith will host the city’s annual Electronic Waste Recycling Day on Saturday, April 26, from 9 a.m. to 1p.m. at Turner Field’s GOLD Parking Lot.

Residents are encouraged to bring their old computers and household electronics to this Earth Day event. An astounding 75,583 of electronic items were collected in 2007 – the largest amount ever collected.

“We are out to beat that record,” said Smith, whose office has hosted E-Waste Recycling Day for the past six years. “Each year we collect more electronics than the year before, which shows there is a tremendous need for residents to properly dispose of these unwanted items.”

The goal of this initiative is to promote the recovery, reuse, and recycling of obsolete electronic equipment and to encourage the design, manufacture, and purchase of environmentally responsible electronic equipment.

The electronics industry is one of the fastest growing and most innovative industries in the world. Every year, newer and better products are being sold to consumers. While electronics account for up to five percent of landfill volume, the products contribute up to 70 percent of the toxins found in landfills.

The following items will be accepted at the city of Atlanta’s E-Waste Recycling Day:

COMPUTER MONITORS
TELEVISIONS ($10 fee required)
MICROWAVE OVENS
COMPUTER CPU’s
STEREOS
TELEPHONES
LAPTOPS
COPIERS
CB RADIOS
PRINTERS
VIDEO MACHINES
CD PLAYERS
DISK DRIVES
VCRs and DVD Players
PORTABLE RADIOS
FLOPPY DRIVES
CAMCORDERS
CELL PHONES
TEST & NETWORKING EQUIPMENT
CAMERAS
KEYBOARDS
MODEMS
RECORD PLAYERS
SCANNERS
CURCUIT BOARDS
SPEAKERS
ELECTRICAL PANELS
TYPEWRITERS
UPS / BATTERY BACK-UP
FAX MACHINES
CD ROMS
PROJECTORS
CABLES
COMPUTER MOUSES

The following items will not be accepted: consoles, projection televisions, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, washers, dryers, freezers, de-humidifiers or humidifiers, gas-powered equipment, tires, household trash and NON-electronic equipment.

For more information, please call Councilwoman Smith’s office at (404) 330-6039.

Jackson Elementary Launches GreenThink

In an effort to implement positive change and further environmental learning at Jackson Elementary in north Atlanta, the school is launching Jackson GreenThink this Earth Day, April 22. The program, brainchild of parents Penny Simmons and Leigh Ann Livaditis, will introduce children to the concept of being eco-friendly with green changes within the school that can translate to the home and community as well.

Earlier this year, a schoolwide assembly was held featuring Magic Debbie, a local childrens' entertainer, who helped kick off the school's expansive recycling program with the magic words: "Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!" Separation bins were dispersed throughout classrooms and common areas. The focus includes paper, aluminum cans, plastic PET bottles, as well as crayons, ink cartridges and cell phones. To date, it's estimated that 1/3 of Jackson's typical waste has been diverted from landfills, thanks to the support of students, faculty, and several recycling companies (Pratt and Newell) that have partnered with the school.

Other activities include: Recycling Pledges from all students describing how they will be kind to the earth, participation in Keep Georgia Beautiful program, re-use of small throw-away objects pressed into sculptures for the Jackson gardens, a "No Idle Zone" for all buses and carpool lines to cut pollutants and save gas, updating cafeteria menu items and janitorial supplies with organic options, a compost pile for lunch waste, rain barrels to collect water for landscaping, lights off or down on designated days, GreenThink re-usable shopping bag sales, a commemorative Earth Day tree planting of 17 Dogwoods and Cherry trees along the school's entrance by Roots and Shoots, Jackson's community service program...and a special fund raising tie-in with Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles™ magazine, also committed to the cause.

"We've made great strides already, but this is just the beginning," explained Penny Simmons, co-founder. "The response from our parent volunteers and teachers has been incredible, and our committee has quickly acted on brainstorming, research, proposals, implementations, and introductions to an arsenal of like-minded community partners. The kids are gaining global awareness on an issue where they can immediately effect change. And they're really rallying – and proud – to do it!"

Jackson GreenThink also reinforces the International Baccalaureate (IB) designation which the school was awarded in 2007, designed to foster the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world at large. "Ultimately, GreenThink is another win-win for Jackson," remarked Leigh Ann Livaditis, co-founder. "We're protecting our kids' physical and environmental health while helping them to think critically, make smarter choices, and responsibly grow the seeds this program is planting."

Fernbank Celebrates Earth Day

Today is Earth Day, and Fernbank Museum of Natural History is offering a variety of events to mark the occasion. 

• See the IMAX film Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk and learn easy ways to conserve water at home—plus $1 from every ticket sold on Earth Day will be donated by the film’s distributor to help build wells in Africa to provide school children with clean drinking water. 
  
• Consider how Fernbank’s new bathroom fixtures save water—over a million gallons a year—by only activating the water when your hands are under the faucet or by using less water when flushing. Follow our lead—low flow toilets are readily available at home improvement stores and can even earn you a rebate through some counties. 
  
• At select intervals throughout the day, experience an animal encounter as Fernbank educators introduce you to one of our live reptiles or amphibians—Fernbank’s ambassadors to nature. 
  
• Explore the natural beauty of Georgia in Fernbank’s permanent exhibition A Walk Through Time in Georgia, where you’ll encounter the diversity of our state, including mountains, forest, caves, islands, swamp, plateau and the variety of animals that inhabit each environment. 
  
• Visit the special exhibition In the Dark to learn about the Earth’s darkest environments and the animals adapted to live in them.
• See the IMAX film Journey into Amazing Caves to learn about the various types of caves on Earth and the importance of protecting them.
• Sign up for a guided Regions of Georgia Excursion in June to Mammoth Cave State Park, Kentucky, where Fernbank environmental scientists will reveal the fascinating geology and biology of the world's longest cave system and the ecosystem that surrounds it.
• Take a self-guided stroll through the 65-acre Fernbank Forest, then sign up for one of our seasonal, guided Fernbank Forest Family Walk programs. 

Fernbank Museum of Natural History is located at 767 Clifton Road. Museum admission is $15 for adults, $14 for students/seniors, $13 for children ages 3-12. Value Pass tickets, which include Museum and IMAX admission, are $23 for adults, $21 for students/seniors and $19 for children. To reserve by phone, call (404) 929-6400 or www.fernbankmuseum.org.

BYOB to Whole Foods on Earth Day

Whole Foods Market is celebrating Earth Month and the stores’ elimination of plastic grocery bags on Earth Day by donating 10 cents for every reusable grocery bag that customers bring in on April 22 to Keep Atlanta Beautiful, a non-profit organization that develops and implements public education and community improvement programs that make a cleaner and greener Atlanta.
 
The Company announced on January 22, 2008 that it would end the use of disposable plastic grocery bags at the checkouts in all of its 270 stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. in order to be plastic bag-free by Earth Day, April 22, 2008.  The first U.S. supermarket to commit to completely eliminating disposable plastic grocery bags to help protect the environment and conserve resources, Whole Foods Market has encouraged shoppers to bring their own bags for years by offering a refund of either five cents at the checkout, but upped the ante to 10 cents when they made the bag free announcement.  Now, in celebration, the stores are hoping to inspire shoppers to adopt a reusable mindset as well by donating these refunds to a local green charity.  On April 22, all Whole Foods Market Team Members will also be participating in a “green out” to celebrate the stores’ “bag out” by donning green attire in honor of Earth Day. 
 
Beginning in January, each store in the Company began depleting stocks of disposable plastic grocery bags and raised awareness about the benefits of reusable bags.  Over the past three months, stores have reduced plastic grocery bag inventories and increased selections of reusable bags for purchase.  Whole Foods Market sells different types of reusable bags, ranging from canvas to its new large, stylish “A Better Bag” — a sound environmental choice since 80 percent of its content comes from recycled plastic bottles and it is an economical choice as well since it costs only 99 cents.
 
Discontinuing disposable plastic grocery bags at the checkouts is another step in the Company’s ongoing effort to provide more Earth-friendly bags and containers in its stores.. Additionally, the Company continues to seek alternatives to plastic bags in its bulk, produce, bakery and seafood departments.  More information can be found at online at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/byobag.