Earth Day Celebration: Spring Has Sprung!
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I can’t believe it, spring is officially beginning! Daffodils are blooming, the temperature is slowly but surely climbing and the sun isn’t hiding behind so many rain clouds. What better way to appreciate this beautiful Seattle weather than by celebrating Earth Day outside with your community in Seattle’s largest forest?
This year Earth Day falls on Saturday, April 22, and from 10:00am until 2:00pm Nature Consortium and Earth Corps are co-hosting a fun volunteer opportunity within the vast West Duwamish Greenbelt as part of a Duwamish Alive! day of service. This celebration will be complete with live musicians, as well as creative art projects through Nature Consortium’s EcoARTs Progam. Located at Pigeon Point at the Pathfinder School (1901 SW Genesee St), you can still sign up for this volunteer work party here!
Since 2006, Nature Consortium and Earth Corps’ Earth Day events have brought hundreds of volunteers together in annual collaboration surrounding the restoration of local natural sites. The West Duwamish Greenbelt, highlighted in Nature Consortium’s Urban Forest Restoration Program, has suffered long-term impacts of logging and is now facing severe degradation. Volunteers at this upcoming Earth Day event will have the opportunity to participate in the restoration of this forest by working on invasive plant removal, mulching, and site maintenance.
The West Duwamish Greenbelt, extending over 500 acres, is the largest contiguous forest remaining within Seattle. This forest provides important ecosystem services to the Duwamish Rivershed and is home to local wildlife such as bald eagles, salamanders and hawks. Plants within this forest benefit our community as well, as they help filter pollutants out of the air and reduce the effects of global warming. Better yet, the West Duwamish Greenbelt is in town. You don’t even have to leave Seattle to experience this spectacular forest!
If you plan on making it to Nature Consortium and Earth Corps Earth Day celebration, be sure to sign up here and come prepared with long pants, closed-toed shoes and a water bottle. Rain or shine, the tools, gloves and training will be provided! You won’t want to miss it, this celebration is the perfect chance to participate in Earth Day by giving back to the Seattle community while being immersed in our city’s natural beauty.
If you can’t make it to this year’s Earth Day event but you’d like to help with these organizations in the future, you can use these links to find scheduled volunteer opportunities with Nature Consortium, Earth Corps and Duwamish Alive!
Happy Earth Day to all, and to all a great spring!
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Sara Parolin
DNDA Marketing Intern