Where to celebrate Earth Day in Norwalk
NORWALK—Though Earth Day falls on a weekday this year, the city of Norwalk and various organizations have plans to honor the holiday with environmentally conscious activities throughout the day on Saturday.
Thirty businesses and organizations partnered for a three-hour Earth Day celebration set to take place Saturday on the Norwalk Green.
Running from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the event will feature a drum circle, a tree planting by the city Department of Public Works and guided walks, among other activities, according to the event page.
The celebration on the green will take place in the Norwalk green gazebo and activities will begin at noon. Food trucks and a mobile bike repair station will be at the event.
As part of the festivities, the Norwalk Historical Society will offer free admission for an awardwinning exhibit at Mill Hill Historic Park titled “Norwalk's Changing Communities: 13,000BC – 1835,” according to a society statement.
Prior to the Earth Day celebration, three guided tours led by community leaders will take Norwalk residents through different parts of the city.
The “historic river walking tour” will set out at 10:30 a.m. from city hall and meet up with the Keep Norwalk Beautiful volunteers cleaning the riverbank. The river tour will be led by Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT) Board Member Nancy Rosett, according to the event page.
At 11 a.m. one walking tour and one bike tour will begin. The walking tour will be a guided walk down Wall Street, led by Norwalk's Transportation,
Mobility and Parking Department Director Jim Travers. The walking tour starts at the main branch library at 1 Belden Ave.
The bicycle tour will start at the South Norwalk branch library at 11 a.m. The bike tour will be led by Norwalk Bike/ Walk Commission Chair Tanner Thompson and Vice Chairman of the Norwalk Planning and Zoning Commission Mike Mushak, according to the page. Bicycles will not be provided.
Also at the Norwalk Green event, the Norwalk Land Trust will be distributing yard signs encouraging residents to let a portion of their yard or garden grow wild, feeding local wildlife and insects, land trust member Audrey Cozzarin said.
About 50 signs reading “Pardon the weeds, we're feeding the bees” will be available for free, but a donation is welcome, Cozzarin said.
“They measure 15 by 17 inches, so a good size for a residential or commercial garden or yard. Let your yard go knowing it's benefiting the bees and pollinators,” Cozzarin said. “It's part of a general sort of environmental movement here in Norwalk with the pollinator pathway, the various nature and environmental groups that are numerous.”
Cozzarin said the Earth Day event represents a type of gathering of the various organizations to swap ideas and share.
“The Earth Day celebration on the green is a gathering of the tribes, which is an indigenous practice where tribes would come together once a year to hob-knob and share practices and what's new,” Cozzarin said. “This is a gathering of just about every single environmental group in Norwalk to be together at one place at the same time and to be in solidarity together around Mother Earth.”
While the signs can be used for general pollinator protection, they will be sold Saturday as part of the No Mow May initiative.
No Mow May is the city's plan to refrain from mowing the lawns of 15 to 20 sites across Norwalk for the month of May, Common Council member Lisa Shanahan said.
“At the request of several conservation leaders, the Mayor, and his staff have agreed to find some sites across Norwalk on public parks, right of ways and the like for the No Mow In May initiative,” Shanahan said. “We are hopeful to convince Norwalk residents to do the same, forego mowing in the month of May to support the bees.”
The locations chosen to grow wild for the month of May will be mowed come June, Shanahan said.
Alongside the event on the green, Skip the Plastic Norwalk will host a river cleanup event Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Gathering at Norwalk River Rowing at 1 Moody's Lane, the group will work to rid the Norwalk River of trash and debris, according to an event posting.
Following the cleanup, the group is invited to join the tail-end of the festivities on the green.
“After the cleanup, please join us in walking to the Norwalk Green for refreshments and Norwalk's ‘Earth Day at the Green' celebration,” the event posting read. “Wear waterproof shoes, long pants, and work gloves. Bring friends, family and your reusable water bottle.”