Earth Day Celebrates it's 40th Year!

Earth Day is just around the corner (April 22nd) and this year is the 40th anniversary of this day of action. The Earth Day Network and Green Apple Festival have joined together to focus as much attention on volunteer efforts for Earth Day weekend (April 17th-19th) as possible!

There is set to be huge events at the National Mall in Washington, DC as well as free "thank you" concerts for volunteers in each city. The cities involved? New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Austin, Los Angeles, San Fransisco and SEATTLE!

With support from presenting sponsors Disneynature, Timberland, Motorola, Inc. and Clear2GO as well as media partners Planet Green, USAToday and others, Earth Day 2009 will encourage Americans to sign up to participate in meaningful actions to give back to communities while restoring and renewing the Earth.

There are 3 components for the events:

• Earth Day on the National Mall: A large-scale free Earth Day Festival with music, entertainment, speakers and environmental activities will take place on the National Mall in Washington DC on Sunday, April 19, 2009. More info on Earth Day is available at http://www.earthday.net/.


• Volunteer Actions by tens of thousands of participants in ten cities, April 17 - 19 2009, making Earth Day a time of meaningful change. These projects in parks, beaches, schools and forests, will focus on climate change solutions like tree planting, energy efficiency retrofits, water protection, urban gardens and forest restoration. Produced with the participation of leading environmental organizations across the US, along with city parks and recreation departments, the activities address current challenges and will help cities and organizations get important work done. Suitable for individuals of all ages, including children and families, these activities encourage active lifestyles, while also connecting volunteers with the green products and solutions. Participants can sign up to volunteer at http://www.greenapplefestival.com/ and http://www.planetgreen.com/.


• Thank You Concerts for volunteers at popular music venues in all cities April 19, 2009 (artists and venues to be announced). Following volunteer activities, all participants will be invited to attend a celebratory night of music and entertainment at a popular venue in their city.

Register with Earth Day Network's Global Event Registry and you will be automatically entered to win their Earth Day 2009 raffle! Raffle to be drawn April 22nd. I'll check what is going on and get back to you all, perhaps we can put together one more volunteer event in April.

Information on the volunteer opportunities and the concert line-ups still have yet to be released. As we find more information, it'll be released here :)

And like any good non-profit, there is tons of swag for sale here that goes directly back to supporting the cause.