Earth Week celebration: Activities, environmental expo and March for Science

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By Denise Rue-Pastin

Special to The PREVIEW

The calendar for the Earth Day week of events continues to fill up and the Southwest Organization for Sustainability (SOS) would like to encourage individuals, organizations and businesses to come forward with an activity or event that they would like to sponsor in celebration of Earth Day. This is our antidote to feeling powerless in the face of the very great need to ensure that our planet remains a healthy home for all of us now and long into the future.

April 22 is the 47th celebration of Earth Day, which began in 1970 with a demonstration of 20 million Americans and has resulted in the passing of legislation. The Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species acts all came out of this effort.

In 1990, Earth Day went global, with 200 million people in 141 countries participating. Today, more than 1 billion people from 192 countries participate. The 2017 Earth Day campaign theme is Environmental and Climate Literacy. Check www.earthday.org for more details.

In addition to a multitude of other events planned in the community by a variety of individuals and organizations, this year SOS is hosting a full day of activities on April 22 at Pagosa Springs High School, followed by a March for Science through downtown Pagosa Springs. The public is invited to visit the high school commons area from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., where businesses, nonprofits and organizations will have tables (the cost to rent is $25) with informational displays about the resources they offer regarding environmental and climate literacy.

Also, individual students and classroom groups will have displays and scientific demonstrations. At the same time, important topics will be presented by a rotation of well-respected speakers in the high school auditorium. Following this event, there will be a gathering in the high school parking lot at 2 p.m. for a March for Science (www.marchforscience.com) through downtown Pagosa Springs.

Thus far, additional community activities happening from April 16-22 include an electronic recycling event, free environmental film, trash walks, Garden Club expo, growing dome tours, tree plantings and a library talk on the Climate Reality Project.

Visit www.sospagosa.org for more details and information. Also, watch for posters and a full listing of events in next week’s paper. Until then, please consider joining the celebration. Contact the Earth Week activities coordinator, Doug Vanderlouw, at (507) 317-4195 or dvanderlouw@gmail.com.