Earth Day will be celebrated a bit differently this year.
The annual observance will be held 2-4 p.m. Saturday at the public library and will be detached from an annual plants and starts sale, which will be held 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 7, at the Haines School.
Melissa Aronson, chair of Haines Friends of Recycling, said the theme of this year’s observance is “What Goes Around Comes Around.” All events are free.
A poster contest already is under way at the Haines School and a litter collection event Thursday will help kick off the annual community community.
Also on Thursday, the film “Jumbo Wild” will be shown at the Takshanuk Watershed Council office at the end of Sawmill Creek Road. The film concerns opposition to a ski resort development in a wild area in British Columbia.
Events continue Saturday with a series of talks starting at 2 p.m. at the library, and concurrent children’s activities in the library’s children’s room.
Presenters include Betsy Van Burg, “Marine Life and Entanglement,” Leah Wagner, “Quick and Dirty Seeds 101,” Jessie Morgan, “Resilient Alaska Youth,” Meredith Pochardt, “Potential for a Food Hub in Haines,” Riley Kosinski, “Electronics Recycling,” and Heidi Robichaud, “Local Value-Added Wood Products.”
Aronson said a food hub is a website where residents might be able to purchase locally grown foods.
An Earth Day observance started on a regular basis here in 2007, growing out of efforts such as including the Peak Oil Task Force.
Aronson said she’s encouraged by the number of local initiatives aimed at a healthy environment, ranging from environmental groups to fledgling, community-supported agriculture efforts. “There are all kinds of things when you start looking around at all the efforts out there.”