The Ruffner Mountain Nature Center near Birmingham, Alabama, will hold its annual Earthfest musical celebration Saturday April 29 from 2-5 p.m. to honor the 36th anniversary of Earth Day. Donations are encouraged. The same day, there will be a wine and cheese sunset hike to Hawk's View Overlook. It's a moderate, mile and half hike for adults only, no pets. Reservations are required, along with a $10 fee for members, $15 for non-members.

For more information, visit the group's Web site at RuffnerMountain.Org.

Posted by Glynn Wilson at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Empty your storage units of used computers, cell phones, and other business electronics and help our community at the same time.

"Tech Birmingham Ecycling Day" is focused on properly recycling targeted unused technology items. The event will have over a dozen consumer collection locations across our region on Earth Day, April 22. Computers that can be redeployed will be distributed to local non-profits through a grant program administered on EcyclingDay.com.

How can you help? Create an inventory of items available for donation. Then, fill out a corporate pledge form on the website. TechBirmingham will follow up with you and make arrangements. Also, be sure to make your neighbors and customers aware of this community-wide activity.

For more information, call (205) 241-8134 or check out this Web site: www.EcyclingDay.com.

Posted by Glynn Wilson at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Sierra Club is taking on the growing problems of global warming and the lack of safe and affordable energy across the country with ways for people to take action on Earth Day, according to spokesperson Betsy Carlton.

"As the federal government continues to drag its feet on global warming, local officials have decided to take matters into their own hands," she said. "Across the country, 224 mayors representing a total of 43.9 million people in 39 states have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement - the first step to becoming what we call a "Cool City."

The Sierra Club has created a web site that allows visitors to find out if their city has signed on and what steps they can take towards making their city “Cool”, connect with like-minded folks in their area and access excellent resources. It is online at www.sierraclub.org/coolcities.

Posted by Glynn Wilson at 04:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Hurricane Creek Cleanup and Chili Cookoff has been rescheduled for Earth Day, Saturday, April 22 at Watson’s Bend from 8 a.m. until about noon, when the Chili Cookoff judging will begin, according to Lauren Fine with the Friends of Hurricane Creek board.

SouthWings will also being conducting fly overs. If you are interested in seeing the watershed from a new perspective, contact John Wathen at hckeeper(at)dbtech(dot)net or call (205) 233-1680.

For more information contact Lauren Fine at lfine(at)alabamarivers(dot) org or call (877) 862-5260 or go online to HurricaneCreek.Org.

Posted by Glynn Wilson at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Jefferson County Commission and the cities of Hoover, Birmingham and Bessemer will sponsor the 4th annual countywide Household Hazardous Waste Day this year on Saturday, April 22 from 8 a.m. until noon at the following sites:  Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Bessemer Civic Center, Center Point Courthouse and the Alabama State Fairgrounds. This event is open to all Jefferson County residents at no charge. 

Household Hazardous Waste is routinely found in the home that can catch fire, react, or explode under certain circumstances or that may be corrosive or toxic, according to Jan Trucks, Event Coordinator
Jefferson County Commission's Environmental Protection Division. Some of the more common varieties include certain kinds of paints, paint thinners, car batteries, pesticides or herbicides, unusable gasoline or kerosene contaminated with water and used motor oil.

"As you might suspect, most basements and storage sheds boast an ample amount of these products which can not be introduced into the traditional waste stream," Ms. Trucks says.

She urges everyone to tell their friends, neighbors and colleagues about this chance to properly dispose of these troubling items. If you would like to volunteer for this half-day event, call (205) 325-8712 or e-mail trucksj(at)jccal(dot)org.

Posted by Glynn Wilson at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's that time of year again, time to celebrate Earth Day 2005.

While park hopping around Birmingham this weekend, I ran into the EarthFest celebration at Homewood Park.

There were some interesting and dedicated people there, including representatives of the Friends of the Locust Fork and The Alabama Rivers Alliance.

I also met Claire Rumore, an interesting author who has written a book about Feng Shui and has a Web site devoted to promoting interesting retreats to sooth the soul. The philosophy behind Sacred Fire Journies is that "the journey is the destination."

For more local events, here's a pretty good calendar.

In today's Birmingham News there's a little story about the local effort. As much as we all hate their ugly, rolling, popping Newhouse Web site, here's the link anyway.

Check this site for more information about national Earth Day events and issues.

Posted by Glynn Wilson at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)