Three years after COVID restrictions began limiting activities, full-fledged Earth Day celebrations are bursting out all over the Chicago area this weekend.
Scores of events in the city and suburbs will give adults and kids a chance to enjoy the outdoors and help preserve and restore natural areas.
Most prominently in Chicago, Friends of the Parks will hold cleanups at nearly 100 parks around the city Saturday, followed by an Earth Day bash at Humboldt Park, 1440 N. Humboldt Blvd.
The events, many of which run from 9 a.m. until noon, will consist primarily of litter pickup, and other activities such as mulching trees or adding rubberized chips to play lots. Friends of the Parks will provide some garbage bags and gloves, but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own.
After a kickoff ceremony at the Humboldt Park Boathouse at 9 a.m., the park will be home to a fair for volunteers, with music, cultural presentations, food and family fun.
Other hub sites include Big Marsh Park, 11555 S. Stony Island Ave., on the Southeast Side; Riis Park, 6100 W. Fullerton Ave., on the Northwest Side, and Columbus Park, 500 S. Central Ave., on the West Side.
“This year we’re seeing a lot more readiness and energy to engage,” Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry said. In recent times, she said, “Chicagoans and society at large became a little more aware and appreciative of how important parks are for our resilience.”
Beyond Earth Day, leaders encourage people to get more involved in taking care of and advocating for their local natural areas in the long term.
At Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve, 1401 Middlefork Drive, Lake Forest, volunteer steward Matt Evans said, “Every day is Earth Day.”
People volunteer nearly every weekend to take care of the preserve, primarily by cutting out invasive species such as European buckthorn and collecting seeds to plant from native species.
Named for the fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River that flows through it, the savanna contains one of the few remaining areas thought to maintain the original character of the native prairie, grasslands mingling with oak groves, Evans said.
At 687 acres, he said, it also has enough depth to give a sense of the prairie that once lived here.
Evans was once a Zamboni driver, maintaining ice rinks, whose love of nature drove him to become an ecologist at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
The long-term goal of Earth Day, he said, is for local communities to learn about, value and take care of their preserves.
Here are brief highlights of other Earth Day events in the area:
The Forest Preserve District of Cook County will hold a garlic mustard pull from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday at Sagawau Environmental Learning Center, 12545 W. 111th St., Lemont.
There will also be an Earth Day celebration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, with art activities, worm composting demonstrations, scavenger hunts and free plant giveaways, at Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, 9800 Willow Springs Road in Willow Springs.
The DuPage County Earth Day Festival will be held at The Forge, 1001 Main St., Lemont, on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Activities include a hug-a-tree nature trail, vendor village, and workshops for all ages. Attendees can also participate in conservation projects, buy meals at food trucks and enjoy live entertainment at the festival.
Additional donation-required activities will be a fun run and fishing derbies.
The event is free to all, but a $5 donation per person is encouraged. All contributions will fund restoration and community-centered projects in the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area.
The Kane County Forest Preserve District will host an Earth Day Tree Planting event starting at 9 a.m. Saturday. Individuals, families, scouts and other groups are all welcome to come to the Tekakwitha Woods Forest Preserve, 35W076 Villa Maria Road, St. Charles, to plant hundreds of trees.The district’s natural resources staff will dig the holes ahead of the event, and volunteers will place the trees, tamp-down dirt and add water and mulch.
The event will run until noon or until all the trees have been planted.
The district asks groups of 10 or more to RSVP by contacting the volunteer coordinator at 630-762-2741 or cleaverobb@kaneforest.com. Individuals and groups with fewer than 10 volunteers do not need to RSVP.
The Hawthorne Hill Nature Center, 28 Brookside Drive in Elgin, will host its Earth Day Celebration from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday.
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The family friendly event will feature educational opportunities, hiking, crafts and giveaways. Guests can watch a nature play or attend an animal presentation. Local environmental organizations and vendors will also be on-hand.
The McHenry County Conservation District and Environmental Defenders of McHenry County will hold a celebration from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Prairieview Education Center, 2112 Behan Road, Crystal Lake. Explore Earth-friendly activity and craft stations, create a reusable tote bag, plant seeds, tag along for guided hikes and soak in the outdoors.
The Will County Forest Preserve District Earth Day Festival will take place from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Hidden Oaks Nature Center, 419 Trout Farm Road, Bolingbrook.
There will be live music, demonstrations by local artisans and opportunities to create nature crafts to take home. Visitors can meet bees and other live animals, explore hands-on exhibits and make s’mores around the campfire during the event. Throughout the event, everyone in attendance will discover ways to shrink their carbon footprint by “going green.”
No registration is required for the festival.
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