There is plenty to do for Earth Day, celebrated worldwide on Tuesday, April 22. Earth Day celebrants can create sun prints at Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, participate in wildlife activities at San Diego Zoo, and attend a free EarthFest in Balboa Park, as well as a County Earth Day Fair at the County Operations Center, along with participating in regionwide Creek-to-Bay cleanups. Following is a breakdown of a few San Diego Earth Day activities:

EARTH DAY SUN PRINTING

On Tuesday, April 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Birch Aquarium at UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography at 2300 Expedition Way, is holding a special sun print craft. Create your cyanotype art, nature’s original “blueprint,” by arranging materials on special paper and letting the sun dye it. Sun printing has been used to make records of plants for hundreds of years. Joanna Volavka, Birch’s media relations specialist, noted sun printing involves “items arranged on specially treated paper that turns blue in the sun, leaving a ‘print’ of the items behind.” She added the technique was used to create the aquarium’s La Jolla forest installation exhibit titled ‘Embodied Pacific: Ocean Unseen.’”

Making sun prints is an outdoor art activity for children, encouraging them to be observant about shape, pattern, and negative images.

SAN DIEGO EARTHFEST

This free event at Balboa Park presented by Vegan Food Popup features more than 100 eco-friendly food, product and service vendors as well as environmental, conservation, and animal-rescue groups. Festivities include an international food court, live music, and kid-friendly activities. It’s a zero-waste event with a portion of the profits donated to nonprofits. This family- and dog-friendly event with free parking available is held on the expansive lawn at Park Boulevard and Presidents Way.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY’S EARTH DAY FAIR

Held at the County Operations Center at 5500 Overland Drive from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, April 18, this event offers information and activities on environmental protection and climate change. Celebrate the Earth with the County. Learn how the County is working to create a more sustainable world through its departments and programs. Staff are hosting a free public fair with a variety of interactive and informative booths, demonstrations, and giveaways.

EARTH DAY AT THE ZOO

San Diego Zoo is celebrating “the home we all share, and the many ways we can come together to invest in our planet for our children and their children,” all day on Earth Day, April 22. Create conservation connections and experience larger-than-life moments filled with wonder. Meet the zoo’s puppet, Percy the Porcupine, as she makes her debut. Guests can also chat it up with Dr. Zoolittle, a character sharing stories, jokes, poems, songs, and interesting facts about wildlife. Guests can also take selfies with costumed characters while coming face-to-face with some of the most incredible and unique species on Earth at Wildlife Explorers Basecamp.

CREEK-TO-BAY CLEANUP

Held on Saturday, April 26, Creek-to-Bay Cleanup, a family-friendly event, was founded in 2002 by environmental nonprofit I Love A Clean San Diego. It is part of the largest Earth Week cleanup in all of San Diego County. At cleansd.org, the organization notes that: “By 2050, there could be more plastic than fish by weight in the world’s oceans if we don’t defend our waterways from litter. Because we ‘love’ where we live, volunteering is a wonderful way to give back to your community while meeting like-minded people.” Participants can select a cleanup site through I Love Clean San Diego’s community hub portal. After a short orientation and safety talk, cleanup volunteers will be sent off to remove litter around their designated areas guided by site captains in charge of sorting and disposing of the collected trash. Wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes, some form of sun protection, and bring a water bottle. This rain or shine event requires a signed release-of-liability waiver for all volunteers, and anyone under 18 needs a waiver signed by a guardian.

Creek-to-Bay cleanup sites along the beachfront: Those include the bike path between La Jolla High and Bird Rock, at the Cove, in the Shores, at South Casa Beach, and Torrey Pines State Beach, plus a Windansea street sweep in La Jolla; stations at Belmont Park, Bonita Cove, De Anza Cove Boat Launch, Lower Rose Creek, a Mission Bay Drive sweep, and Tecolote Shores in Mission Bay; at Pacific Beach Taylor Branch Library; at Dog Beach and Veteran’s Plaza in Ocean Beach; and at Liberty Station NTC Park, Famosa Slough, Harbor Island Park, Shelter Island, Spanish Landing West, and Sunset Cliffs Natural Park in Ocean Beach and Point Loma.

EARTH DAY

Celebrated annually on April 22, the first Earth Day was held in 1970, inspired by a growing public consciousness about air and water pollution. Sen. Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin organized the first Earth Day, and Denis Hayes, a graduate student at Harvard University, helped with the organization. Hayes and his staff grew the event beyond the original idea for a teach-in to include the entire United States. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and strengthened support for legislation like the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Photo by Thomas Melville