Motherhood: Love Your Mother (Earth

LOVE

Your Mother (Earth)!

By Deborah C. Gerbers

April 22, 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Earth Day promotes the idea of taking care of our planet, resources and ecosystem, and is an opportunity to celebrate Earth in many ways. Fort Wayne offers several options to celebrate Earth Day — and there are many ways to get creative with your kids at home, as well.

The Earth Day Virtual Challenge is a fun way to collectively see how many times we can run the distance of the equator: 24,901 miles. At least 415 participants are needed to commit to run at least two miles a day for the month of April to make it at least once around the Equator. It is a free challenge where you log your miles and report them to the virtual run challenge organization results page, either by joining Official Earth Day Challenge Facebook Group or Strava Group. Participants can also upgrade their registration and receive an official Earth Day t-shirt, commemorative medal and a pack of wildflower seeds. You can also share your mission by tagging @virtualrunchallenge and #VRCEarthDayChallenge.

This year for the first time, Fort Wayne will participate in the City Nature Challenge. From April 24 to 27, locals can wander around the city to make observations about various natural species and photograph them. Then upload them to the Nature Challenge site for identification April 28 through May 3. The goal has three primary areas of focus: (1) number of observations, (2) number of species and (3) number of people who participated. The idea is to make wild observations—observations of plants, animals, fungi, etc. that are naturally occurring and were not purposely put into the landscape by people. For more information about the challenge, visit https://www.inaturalist.org/ projects/indiana-city-nature-challenge-2020

The Follinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory in downtown Fort Wayne once again announces its annual butterfly exhibit; open April 18 through July 5. Here, visitors can walk around the regular exhibits of rainforest and desert, as well as wander among a wide variety of live butterflies. Adults and kids of all ages will enjoy seeing these delicate, majestic creatures flying about in a protected environment—and be sure to carefully check your clothing before exiting, as butterflies have a tendency to land on visitors to catch a ride. For hours visit botanicalconservatory.org

The Little River Wetlands Project is holding its Annual Spring Clean-up on Saturday, April 18, from 10:00am to 12:00pm. Help protect the preserve’s habitats and the wildlife that depend on them at this annual event by helping to remove winter’s trash. Bring garden rakes, grabbers, any useful tools, trash bags and work gloves (waterproof recommended) if you can, and be ready to get wet and muddy. It is a great event to bring family and friends along too. The group will meet at the Eagle Marsh gateway parking area (west of green gate) off Engle Road.

The 8th annual Earth Day Fort Wayne will also be celebrated on April 28 at Eagle Marsh Preserve. Interested locals can join staff and friends of Little River Wetlands Project for hands-on learning opportunities at Eagle Marsh. For more information visit lrwp.org

Interested in doing more for the planet while staying in your own backyard? There are many ways to conserve resources, take care of our environment, and teach kids how to preserve the many offerings of nature and our planet. Planting new trees, plants and gardens help provide more oxygen in the air and provide shade during warmer months, reducing the need to run the air conditioning full-blast all summer. You can also reduce power usage by turning off lights and faucets and adjusting the thermostat a few degrees higher than normal. Plating your own vegetables and herbs is a way to be self-sustaining, and it’s fun for the kids to watch them grown from seeds. Consider organizing a neighborhood clean up and see who can collect the most trash. Other ways to reduce our carbon footprint are to walk or bike instead of drive; choose reusable shopping bags, all natural or homemade cleaners; switch to LED light bulbs; pay bills and bank online to reduce paper waste; and read newspapers online instead of paper copies.

Protecting the Earth is something everyone can do—you just need to get creative. a