This Sunday, April 22 is Earth Day—a day for appreciating and celebrating the planet we live on and meant to encourage people to give back to it. Activities surrounding Earth Day run the gambit from coordinated volunteer efforts to kid-centric activities to full-on festivals. Take a look at the list below for some options. Festivals for Earth Earth Day Celebration: Cesar Chavez Park & City Hall; Thurs 9am-2pm Come out and join for a free day of fun and interactive green education, carnival games, and great entertainment. The day includes live entertainment from Radio Disney and Magician Bill Devon with Top Class Magic, face painting, balloon artists, and more than 50 local vendors provid

In addition to its fascinating Gold Rush past, the Sacramento area is rich with an amazing array of state-of-the-art museums and historic sites that offer visitors the chance to explore California’s fine art, history, science, and wildlife treasures all year long.  In April, many of the 28 members of Sacramento Association of Museums (SAM) are proud to showcase a variety of upcoming earth-friendly events and activities, including: “Earth Fest” & “Recycle Rummage Sale” at The Sacramento Zoo - April 7 It’s a party for the planet at the Sacramento Zoo during “Earth Fest”! Zoo visitors will learn how to protect and preserve the earth with environmental, wildlife and conservation organization

Come along and be a part of the FREE fun at the City of Sacramento’s 2011 Earth Day celebration! Earth dwellers of all ages are invited to come celebrate and learn about our majestic world, and the Sacramento community’s role in helping to make our area a green and even more environmentally friendly city. The Earth Day celebration takes place on Thursday April 21st, at the City Hall Plaza located at 915 I Street, and Cesar Chavez Park located just across tthe street in downtown Sacramento. Our celebration kicks off with lively entertainment at 9 :00 AM with the festivities continuing until 2:00 PM. The green fun includes interactive learning, complete with clean air demonstrations, ring-

A diverse crowd of people gathered in Old Sacramento on Thursday to celebrate Earth Day and the Grand Opening of Practical Cycle. Riders of all ages and from all walks of life were drawn together to be a part of the first annual "Ride for Earth." With a diverse crowd of people came a diverse crowd of bikes! Many riders brought their own bikes, and Practical Cycle let out its entire rental fleet of Made in USA and Electric bicycles and tricycles for free. There was even a Velocab and a high-wheeler replica! The ride followed the Sacramento River to its confluence with the American River in Discovery Park. Afterwards, fresh-squeezed organic lemonade that was delivered by an old Worksman tr

There were several Earth Day celebrations and events Thursday. One of the biggest and most successful was the official City of Sacramento Earth Day Celebration. The event was held at Cesar Chavez Park and in the plaza of City Hall. An estimated 3,500 people of all ages attend this years' event. It was supported by Mayor Kevin Johnson and the City Council. The City of Sacramento Neighborhood Services Department organized the event.   I spoke with Neighborhood Services Department Director Vincene Jones. Jones and her staff started back in January giving early notice to Sacramento area schools, informing them of the event and its value as a field trip. Local media was enlisted to help get t

Hundreds of children came to Cesar Chavez Park to learn about the environment at today's Earth Day Celebration. Now in its 40th year, Earth Day was founded in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental sit-in. Today, the annual event is celebrated nationwide with a various activities. In Chavez Park, children were taught gardening techniques, took an exercise challenge, played games, and watched a magic show. Radio Disney also provided an interactive performance focusing on the environment, all with a surprise visit from Wun "The Shot" Versher from the Harlem Globetrotters. Radio Disney's act was followed by a performance by the Fall of "X", though this did not stop the kids fro

               Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and Sacramento State Public Relations students are celebrating in an unconventional way,bringing awareness to a different kind of cause, organ and tissue donation. On April 1, Sacramento State Public Relation students teamed up with Donate Life California, launching the “What’s Your Legacy?” campaign. The mission of the students’ campaign is to educate the community, increase the number of people on California’s organ and tissue donor registry and ultimately save lives. Across the country, more than 100,000 men, women and children are in need of life-saving transplants and 21,000 of them reside in California. Sadly, one-third

On April 22nd each day for the past 40 years, our nation has celebrated this day as Earth Day - an opportunity for many of us to join with family, friends and neighbors to celebrate our environment and work towards a healthier one.. At this time each year, I enjoy celebrating Earth Day with my family and reminding my grandchildren about the importance of respecting nature. Protecting our environment means guaranteeing our families can breathe clean air and drink clean water. For those in the region, much of our food supply comes from local farmers and can be adversely affected by harmful pollutants. It is important that the next generation understands and appreciates all that our planet h

Practical Cycle is celebrating Earth Day its Grand Opening in Old Sacramento today. Tim Castleman and his son, Cassidy, are teaming up to sell, rent, and service electric and Made in USA bicycles and tricycles. After being shocked by the tragic events of 9/11, and inspired by a life threatening battle with prostate cancer, Tim set out to make a difference in the world. “I decided to put it all on the line and follow my heart, instead of just trying to survive.” "Practical Cycle is different than traditional bike shops,” says Cassidy, a 23 year-old business student and solar professional, “Our mission is to make cycling more practical for everyday people. No spandex… No funny shoes… No pro

Earth Day;  a time to pull on the tie-dyed tee (the one with the peace sign)  slip on the Birks, and spin a few Donovan tunes (and say, good morning, starshine). On the other hand, if you'd rather skip your inner Hippie ensemble and accompanying tunes, maybe a more sophisticated celebration is in order, like popping the cork on a sustainably-produced bottle of wine. There are several 'green' agricultural buzzwords flying about the news these days, so you might be wondering, what exactly does 'sustainability' mean? Sustainable farming is the return to more responsible farming techniques. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture was embraced as a way to grow food abundantly and cheaply

 The corner of Broadway and 16th has always provided Sacramento with a sense of identity with its majestic theatre and beautiful garden. But the biggest highlight of the grounds is the Tower Cafe that will, on Earth Day, 2010, turn 20. The restaurant was opened by owner Jim Seyman, 60, on April 22, 1990 as a coffee shop intended for people to come and socialize, but with the aid of worldly kitsch, a progressive award winning menu and a patio filled with flora and fauna, the Tower has come to represent one of Sacramento’s greatest local and tourist spots. The menu has entrees ranging from carnitas rojas, a spectacular combination of pulled pork, colorful tortilla shells, and a chile relle

Sacramento, CA – Just in time for Earth Day, one of the California Automobile Museum's newest editions to the Going Green exhibit is the “Quiet 1” – a custom 3 wheel, 2 passenger, electric vehicle designed and built completely at home. This home-built electric car serves as a great example of what environmentally-conscious car enthusiasts can do. The California Automobile Museum’s Going Green exhibit opened Earth Day 2009 and showcases vehicles spanning the 20th to the early years of the 21st century that personify the low-polluting, environmentally advanced cars dotting California’s highways. The exhibit features one of only 12 surviving models of the EV-1, an all-electric prototype manu

With Earth Day’s 40th celebration just days away, the Sacramento Metro Chamber proudly announces that 300 delegates travel for the Capitol-to-Capitol advocacy program is “green.” Metro Chamber member Sacramento Municipal Utility District has once again provided carbon offsets for the official travel portion of each Cap-to-Cap delegate. This is the third year in a row that SMUD has sponsored reduction of the delegation’s carbon footprint. “SMUD’s carbon offset program is retiring 295 tonnes of greenhouse gas offsets on behalf of our delegation,” said Metro Chamber President & CEO Matt Mahood. “For each delegate, that would be .93 tons of CO2 for a roundtrip flight Sacramento to Washington

 Tree clean our air and water, store carbon in their trunks, create habitat for wildlife, reduce air pollution, increase property values, and provide countless other benefits. The Sacramento Tree Foundation works to leverage all of the benefits that trees provide to create healthy and sustainable communities through building the best urban forest in the Sacramento region. A major keystone in building the best urban forest is the Greenprint initiative, a multi-decade regional framework created to meet Sacramento's sustainability and livability goals by expanding urban forests and optimizing the benefits of tree canopies. Greenprint partners, comprised of 22 cities and 6 counties, have agree

On Earth Day, Sacramento residents decided to take action in their yards, both front and back.  In Oak Park, Environment and Agriculture Taskforce (EAT) Sacramento, a network of activists and organizations, issued a report and called on the city to "modernize" chicken laws by allowing residents to keep a limited number of egg-laying hens. The group also layed out part of a roadmap for achieving greater food security, as well as adressing global warming.   The group also suggested that the city could do more to support and encourage more "green thumbs" through continued gardening trainings, zoning changes, and better use of vacant lands. Citing the need to "fix", or capture carbon dioxide