Earth Day Online: Going Green Onscreen

This year, on April 22, marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. While we may not be able to celebrate in the traditional ways we had planned, we can still celebrate together. Together with Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful we have launched Online Earth Day: Going Green Onscreen. It’s a full day of activities and lessons for everyone of all ages that you can enjoy on your computer or phone. Everything from endangered turtles to gardening is going to be covered over the course of the day to help us appreciate the good in the world going on right now.

Many people have been working on their homes and yards during the past couple of weeks. This makes it the perfect time to try out gardening or try new things in our gardens. To help, Brenda Jackson and Roger Gates from our University of Georgia Extension offices will join in and discuss gardening at home as well as a Q&A session. So prep your questions and use this chance to ask the experts about that plant you can’t quite get to grow or how to use our land to get started.

Dalton State College will also be participating in the day. We’ll get an up-close look at the Turtle Assurance Colony (TAC). The TAC helps care for multiple endangered species of turtles. The turtles require continuous care and people like Sarah McMahon, who will be conducting the virtual tour of the colony, are continuing to help the turtles grow and thrive during this time of social isolation. DSC professor Dr. Luke Manget will also be discussing the history of Earth Day, a bipartisan effort that became a global movement.

If you are bummed about missing Ecumenical Earth Day festivities this year, tune in early for a short segment by the Ecumenical Earth Day board. While we will miss enjoying the sunshine together, this will allow us to spread our joy farther and wider than ever before.

The Creative Arts Guild will host a segment showing us how to connect to art and the planet around us. Many people have used the past couple of weeks to enjoy extra time in nature by hiking, gardening or biking and many people are passing the time by connecting more to their art through music or painting. This segment can show us those appreciations can go hand-in-hand.

Join Lizzy Stuckey from the Dalton-Whitfield County Public Library for a fun activity for the younger crowd. Miss Lizzy is going to help your children have fun and learn about the world from the comfort of your living room.

Your little ones aren’t the only ones who can learn this Earth Day. Use this time to consider the true amount of waste you create in a day. The realization could easily be that you are creating significantly more waste than you realized. By learning to compost right now, you can handle your food waste without wasting space in the landfill and turn it into food for our garden. I’ll be joining in from the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority to show everyone how to start composting from home.

Keep It Clean Dalton and Brookwood School have also worked together to create a video performance of "This Land is Your Land" written by Woodie Guthrie to end the day’s fun. While the performance began being planned all together, people were able to send in video clips from all over Dalton to show how they are enjoying Earth Day this year.

One of the joys of Earth Day is enjoying the thing that every one of us has in common — the planet! While we may not be able to appreciate our planet together in person, we can still learn more about it and celebrate the day together virtually.

To join in the day follow Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful on Facebook where it will be livestreamed or type https://zoom.us/j/785454498 into your browser. The event will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 22, and continue into the early evening. Visit Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beatiful’s Facebook page for a recording of the entire event!

Amy Hartline is the recycling and education program coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. Have a recycling question? Contact her at (706) 278-5001 or at ahartline@dwswa.org.