go green ~ earth day 2017
EARTH DAY
EVENTS Earth Day Fun and Festivities
Earth Day Fernie celebrations are back and with this amazing day comes an awesome line-up of environmental activities for all ages! Join us at the Fernie Community Centre as we share earth friendly ideas and create fun crafts and more to take home. Piles of fun heading your way…. #Trashbashchallenge Kick off your day with the ‘Trash Bash Challenge’. Find an outdoor area that you love and take initiative to clean up your neighbourhood. Grab your friends and family and get outside to make a difference. Take a photo and post it to the Earth Day Fernie Facebook page, facebook.com/ earthdayfernie with hashtag #TrashBashChallenge or post it on Instagram @elkvalleywildsight. With your post, include how many bags, how many people and how much time you spend cleaning up your neighbourhood.
Soil Secrets
#Getwildchallenge
Apple Capture / Tool Share
Grab your camera or cell phone and become part of the ‘Get Wild Challenge’. Get outside, take some deep breaths, see the beauty and snap some photos. Share your great photo-ops on facebook.com/earthdayfernie with the hashtag #GetWildChallenge or share it on Instagram to @elkvalleywildsight. Let us know why you love spending time in nature on Earth Day. Tell us how much time you spent outside and what you did. At the end of the day, visit our Facebook page to discover what others have done! You might get some great ideas – it’s all good clean fun!
Seed Swap
Get ready to garden with the EcoGarden’s Seed Swap. Bring your own locally grown seeds to swap or bring money to donate for seeds that you take home. The Seed Swap will offer information about Seeds of Diversity, a resource of locally grown seeds and local growing information. 4-6pm at the festivities. At this table you can also learn more about our newest program, ‘Keeping Food Real’, a how-to on cold climate gardening.
Recycling Sorting Challenge
Think you are good with your throwing arm? See how quickly you can separate and sort your paper from your plastics in this fun and interactive sorting challenge. Think of it as a bean bag toss with tin cans….
Paper Doll Dress-Up
Trace your own body and then choose from a myriad of reused, recycled or found materials to decorate yourself ! Be as imaginative as you can be in the creative chaos! Maybe even be inspired to take part in the next Trashy but Flashy event!
Learn the five secrets to soil in the Elk Valley. Discover unique soil characteristics through hands on activities and ‘dirty facts’!
Electric Vehicles
Curious about Electric Vehicles? Can they really work in the Elk Valley? Thanks to Megan Lohmann and the vehicles’ proud owners, we will have a few on display for you to look and explore. Come and learn about how you could ‘become electric’ in Fernie! Did you know that Wildsight Elk Valley has a Tool Library that allows you to pick, process and even dehydrate the fruit from your apple trees? Or that the Tool Library also has dishes, recycling bins and other goodies that you can check out and use for your next event? For a complete list of available tools and how to access them please visit the Tool Share page at wildsight.ca/elkvalley. Also, as you know, Fernie is home to many fruit trees. When the fruit is left to fall off the trees, it attracts local wildlife—including deer and bears. Our Apple Capture Program is here to help you keep up with your fruit harvest or to share it with someone who can. Together, we can turn a wildlife attractant into healthy local food. Learn about both of these great initiatives on Earth Day at the Fernie Community Centre!
Sp eci Fe a atu l re Welcome to Earth Day 2017
O
n behalf of Wildsight Elk Valley I extend a warm welcome to Earth Day Fernie 2017. In Fernie we are so fortunate to be in nature every time we walk out our door. Earth Day Fernie challenges all of us to keep our stewardship of the environment at the forefront of our daily living. Join us at the Community Centre on April 22nd starting at 3:30pm for an event designed to educate and inspire good environmental habits, and get your creativity flowing. There are always so many innovative ideas that go into the planning of Earth Day. I would like to take the time to thank this year’s Earth Day Committee for the many hours that they put into creating this offering to our community. This year the Trashy but Flashy Fashion Show is back on the runway which makes for such great fun! It is truly amazing to see what can be made out of trash, recycled, or reused materials. There will be a display of past winners of the fashion show along with a display of Lindsay Vallance’s upcycled mask collection. Swap your seeds to make ready for the planting season, you never know we may have an early start to our gardening season this year. Get involved with all of the three Eco Challenges, the Trash Bash Challenge, Eat Local Challenge, and Get Wild Challenge as a family, a classroom, or an individual. All the info for these challenges can be found at wildsight.ca/earthdayfernie. Think ahead and nominate someone for a Green Award, presentation will be made before the Fashion Show. There will be lots of interactive kids crafts and games and don’t forget $8 eats will be available throughout the day. On behalf of the Board of Wildsight Elk Valley and the Earth Day Committee I invite you to join us for this worthwhile community event to celebrate our Stewardship of the planet we live on. Sharon Switzer/President Wildsight Elk Valley
Trashy But Flashy Fashion Show
The always anticipated Trashy but Flashy Fashion show only happens if Earth Day falls on a Saturday and luckily for us, this year it does! Starting at 6pm, this exciting perennial favourite will be sure to induce awe and inspiration. Come and see the most amazing fusions of trash and flash! Bragging rights and cash prizes are ready to be bestowed!
Green Awards
Fernie is home to some pretty amazing people and businesses who go out of their way to help the environment. The Green Awards categories include: greenest classroom, greenest family, greenest coffee shop, greenest restaurant, greenest initiative, greenest shopper (that person who NEVER forgets their bags!) and greenest business. Show some love for the people who show the earth some love every day! Awards will be given immediately before the fashion show begins.
Earth Day 2017 fun is not limited to what is listed above so make sure you come to the Community Centre to see what is on offer! For more info about these or any other Wildsight activities please contact us at elkvalley@wildsight.ca or call 250.423-3322.
Diversity is important It makes living things adaptable. It allows wild and domesticated species to withstand threats like diseases, climate changes, pests, and other unpredictable conditions. With enough variation in a group, there will always be some individuals that are naturally suited to survive and can thrive under any changing situation. Diversity in plants also gives us a “treasure chest” of options for raising the healthiest and most productive crops. No matter what changes happen in our food system, we will always be able to adapt if we have enough genetic diversity.