Get down, get dirty with Earth Day parties

Good, clean dirt is everywhere — including many places where it certainly doesn’t belong — but good luck getting your hands on some of it on Earth Day. Saving the world is the hot ticket for April 21, and motivated volunteers have already filled up most vacancies in the local handful of tree-planting and weed-pulling work parties.

You might just have to resort to kicking back and having fun on Earth Day at Salmon Creek Regional Park as Clark Public Utilities’ Stream Team celebrates its own quarter-century of getting dirty. Just add water to make that muddy.

“This is the 19th year of our Earth Day event, but it’s the 25th anniversary of the Stream Team,” a volunteer-driven effort to promote local waterway health and get salmon thriving again, according to Environmental Services Manager Jeff Wittler. More than 1,000 volunteers — from scouts to senior citizens, from college students to AmeriCorps workers to master gardeners — donate more than 3,500 hours to the cause annually. 

Try checking the Stream Team website today to see if any spaces are left in April 21’s outing, which starts at 8:30 a.m. Stream Team volunteers will plant native trees that help filter and shade the water, making it more hospitable to fish and wildlife. Meanwhile, Girl Scout Troop 45703 will yank invasive garlic mustard while the Salmon Creek Watershed Council patrols the whole area for litter.

But if there’s just no room for any more help, head on down to Salmon Creek anyway. “The Earth Day fest from 10 to 2 is free and open to all,” said Wittler. “In past years, more than 1,000 folks of all ages have come to enjoy the day.” Highlights will be: 

• 10 a.m. — Welcome, with free insulated grocery bags for the first 100 fair attendees.

• 10:15 a.m. — Portland Audubon’s live Birds of Prey show (on hand all day).

• 11 a.m. — Mr. Lizard mobile zoo.

• Noon. — Sing along with Recycleman.

• 12:45 p.m. — “Watershed Reflections” art contest winners announcement.

• 1 p.m. — Science Circus: Physics of Fun juggling show.

Clark Public Utilities was recently informed that its 25-year Stream Team effort is one of 13 winners, out of 800 nominees, of a nationwide Make a Difference Day award. The award comes with a $10,000 grant. Make a Difference Day is another mass outing for volunteers, held every year on the last Saturday in October.

Community cleanup

Or you can try something less muddy (weather permitting) and more neighborly. Vancouver’s Watershed Alliance, a homegrown environmental agency, has joined forces with media giant Comcast to tend to Bagley Community Park, a heavily used playing field and greenspace shared by Roosevelt Elementary School, the Jim Parsley Center and local Boys & Girls Club. Help keep the park healthy and hospitable for kids and neighbors by removing invasive English ivy and blackberry. Coffee, hot chocolate, snacks and lunch will be provided.

Registering ahead of time at ComcastInTheCommunity.com would be appreciated, said organizer Sunrise O’Mahoney, but you can just show up by 8:30 a.m. Saturday to sign up and get busy; however, minors without a parent or legal guardian must bring the signed minor volunteer consent form downloadable from that website.

Do it yourself

Review the following pointers for saving the planet via your own personal behavior on your own personal time. These were culled from numerous media sources, and it’s pretty basic stuff. You probably knew all of these things already — but have you done them?

• Plant a tree. Trees absorb heat, carbon dioxide and storm runoff; they provide shade, oxygen and soil stability — not to mention beauty. Instead of installing heat pumps and air conditioning in your home, consider planting trees strategically to buffer against extremes of heat, cold and wind.

• Ride your bike or carpool. Carbon dioxide from transportation — cars, trains, planes — is now the top greenhouse gas emission.

• Carry your own reusable shopping bags. Return the plastic film ones you’ve used for recycling or, even better, don’t use them at all. Some municipalities are already starting to “ban the bag.” While you’re at it, don’t buy bottled water, which annually generates plastic bottles by the billions-with-a-B.

• Reduce water consumption. One much-discussed nightmare scenario of this planet’s heating-up future is widespread conflict over water. Start conserving it now.

• Eat fruits and veggies. Raising animals for food is far more energy- and waste-intensive than raising grains and greens. One 2017 study found that red meat has 100 times the environmental impact of plant-based food.