Earth Day

Jenn Donello has less than a year until she turns 21 years old, a condition that kept her -- and several friends -- out of the 21st observance of Earth Day here.Yesterday's event was supposed to have taken place at Baltimore's Druid Hill Park, but as rain and windy conditions continued throughout the day, organizers moved it inside to Max's on Broadway, a Fell's Point Bar that doesn't admit anyone who is not of Maryland's legal drinking age."It's crazy," Donello said outside the bar, to loud agreement from half a dozen friends.

The City of Aberdeen's annual Earth Day celebration drew a good crowd to Festival Park Saturday, as the weather cooperated with sunny skies and mild temperatures. There were plenty of games made from recycled materials for the youngsters to play and plenty of animals for them to see and touch, including turtles, a green iguana, a chinchilla and rabbits. Earth Day also featured a number of environmental exhibits and activities such as face-painting and tie-dyed shirt making.

Earth Day at the Clarksville home of Sydney Ostroff, 9, her brother Jonah, 7, and their parents, Len and Michelle, was quite an extravaganza under sparkling blue skies. The kids got time off from school Thursday and doughnuts to eat, while about 60 news reporters, photographers, construction workers, politicians, bureaucrats and neighbors, all overseen by a clattering TV helicopter, watched Gov. Martin O'Malley and Howard County Executive Ken Ulman help install photovoltaic solar panels on their roof.

Mother Nature brought relief to a parched Baltimore on Sunday, but the persistent rain didn't dampen the spirits at the Earth Day festivities in Hampden. "We had a few hundred people come through today," said Don Barton, 29, an organizer of Sunday's Localize It! 2012, one of a series of events during the week to celebrate Earth Day in the Baltimore area. "People are braving the rain and seem to be having a good time. " Localize It!, sponsored by the Baltimore Free Farm, promotes local food, music and vendors.

Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks invites residents to celebrate Earth Day by helping to plant trees and install tree shelters from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at West Friendship Park, 12947 Route 144. Information and to sign up: 410-313-4624. Wear work gloves and bring a shovel.

Earth Day has become more than a day where Americans clean parks and plant trees or flowers. The American Council on Exercise is using it as a day to promote outdoor activity. They are using it as a day to encourage people to trade the treadmill for a walk in the park or the weight bench for an outdoor yoga class. Here are five workouts they are suggesting for Earth Day, which is Sunday. 1.  Go Off-Road : A great way to escape the hectic city life and reduce stress is to hike in nature . Bring along some water and a snack for shorter hikes.

Friday marks the 41 s t anniversary of Earth Day and provides the customary opportunity to take stock of the environmental movement in this country. Unfortunately, for all the talk of the greening of America, it's been a pretty rotten 12 months for the planet and its defenders. Just look at the bookend events: A year ago this week, the Gulf of Mexico suffered the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Whatever the lessons learned from that trauma, it hasn't resulted in big changes to the country's oil-dependent energy strategies.

The City of Aberdeen's annual Earth Day celebration drew a good crowd to Festival Park Saturday, as the weather cooperated with sunny skies and mild temperatures. There were plenty of games made from recycled materials for the youngsters to play and plenty of animals for them to see and touch, including turtles, a green iguana, a chinchilla and rabbits. Earth Day also featured a number of environmental exhibits and activities such as face-painting and tie-dyed shirt making.

Mother Nature brought relief to a parched Baltimore on Sunday, but the persistent rain didn't dampen the spirits at the Earth Day festivities in Hampden. "We had a few hundred people come through today," said Don Barton, 29, an organizer of Sunday's Localize It! 2012, one of a series of events during the week to celebrate Earth Day in the Baltimore area. "People are braving the rain and seem to be having a good time. " Localize It!, sponsored by the Baltimore Free Farm, promotes local food, music and vendors.

Earth Day weekend is upon us.  I can tell because my email inbox is jammed with pitches for "green" products and corporate campaigns: Clothing made from recycled plastic bottles; natural skin care products; hybrid auto accessories, even pet waste collection bags. Marketing has its place, I suppose. But in keeping with the origins of Earth Day, there are plenty of opportunities to demonstrate concern about the state of our planet and community, without having to buy stuff. Here are some: Baltimore Green Works is holding a week's worth of activities from April 21 to April 28 in celebration of Earth Day. On Saturday, there'll be tree plantings and other activities in the morning, followed by EcoFest at Druid Hill Park from noon to 5 p.m. Gardening workshops, hikes and walks, bike rides, entertainment and a tree giveaway.

Earth Day weekend is upon us.  I can tell because my email inbox is jammed with pitches for "green" products and corporate campaigns: Clothing made from recycled plastic bottles; natural skin care products; hybrid auto accessories, even pet waste collection bags. Marketing has its place, I suppose. But in keeping with the origins of Earth Day, there are plenty of opportunities to demonstrate concern about the state of our planet and community, without having to buy stuff. Here are some: Baltimore Green Works is holding a week's worth of activities from April 21 to April 28 in celebration of Earth Day. On Saturday, there'll be tree plantings and other activities in the morning, followed by EcoFest at Druid Hill Park from noon to 5 p.m. Gardening workshops, hikes and walks, bike rides, entertainment and a tree giveaway.

Volunteers can help keep Laurel's Granville Gude Park clean by participating in an Earth Day Park Cleanup on Saturday, April 28. Participants will meet at the lake house, 8300 Mulberry St., at 9 a.m., and should wear appropriate clothing for working outdoors. Trash bags and gloves will be provided, and a limited number of Earth Day T-shirts will be available for volunteers. Students can earn service hours and should bring their own forms. For more information, call the Laurel Department of Parks and Recreation at 301-725-7800.

Earth Day has become more than a day where Americans clean parks and plant trees or flowers. The American Council on Exercise is using it as a day to promote outdoor activity. They are using it as a day to encourage people to trade the treadmill for a walk in the park or the weight bench for an outdoor yoga class. Here are five workouts they are suggesting for Earth Day, which is Sunday. 1.  Go Off-Road : A great way to escape the hectic city life and reduce stress is to hike in nature . Bring along some water and a snack for shorter hikes.

Happy Earth Day, dear readers, It's this Sunday, April 22. In celebration, on Saturday, (April 21) join the annual River Sweep event along the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. from Tydings Park to the Susquehanna Museum at the Lock House. For details, phone 410-457-2482, 410-939-7644 or 410-808-6118 or email peter.d.green@att.net . April 22 is Earth Day celebrated by people around the world to build awareness and inspire environmental change. Visit http://www.earthday.net . April 27 is National Arbor Day - plant a tree!

Washington Space Shuttle Discovery, National Air and Space Museum The space shuttle Discovery soared around the Washington Monument and the White House in a salute to the nation's capital Tuesday before landing for the last time near its new home at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum annex in northern Virginia. Discovery will be transferred from NASA into the museum's collection at the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center on April 19 in an outdoor ceremony open to the public.

Disturbingly, come the morning of April 21, a swarm of volunteers will have no trouble filling bag after bag with garbage collected from the banks of the Susquehanna River from the Conowingo Dam downriver to the mouth at Havre de Grace and Perryville. It's disturbing because last year a substantial amount of garbage was collected from the same river banks. And the year before that, going back quite a few years at this point. The plan is for volunteers to meet in Tydings Park in Havre de Grace, Community Park and Marina Park in Perryville, Marina Park and Octoraro Creek in Port Deposit and on Garrett Island starting at 8:30 a.m. on the 21st, a Saturday, and fan out to clean up the land along the river.

The Broadneck Baptist Church will sponsor an Earth Day Celebration May 9 and 10. All events are free and the public is welcome.The celebration starts at 10 a.m. Saturday with a children's pre-cycling class for children 6 to 11, and a youth workshop for 12- to 18-year-olds.On Sunday at 10 a.m., there will be church services with an environmental theme.Information: 757-8583.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, in the fashion industry is too ugly to imitate, especially if it fits into a trendy theme.Well known as the sandal of choice among the tofu-and-bean-sprout crowd, the humble Birkenstock sandal has a wanna-be. Kinney Shoes has introduced the Colorado sandal, a leather and buckled-strap shoe that's "comfortably chic and environmentally sound for the '90s."If you're still feeling a bit far from the roots of the environmental movement, or maybe you missed Earth Day entirely, it's time to put something on your chest another Earth-friendly T-shirt.

The world's two billion Christians have just completed Holy Week, celebrating the final days, death and resurrection of Jesus. This year, the global celebration of Earth Day coincided with Good Friday, giving many of us an additional perspective on this sacred and ancient commemoration. Good Friday, marking Jesus' crucifixion, is a challenging day in many ways. The original Good Friday was a day of grief and confusion for Jesus' friends and followers. Today, Christian rituals reflect that grief, even though Jesus' sacrifice is central to the broader Easter story of salvation and hope.

Every now and then, you get a press release that breaks new ground in the areas of creativity and hilarity. This is one of those times. Yesterday, the CIA sent out an Earth Day press release highlighting the agency's environmentally friendly initiatives.  Their plan? Burning documents.  Seriously. You can't make this stuff up. The release said:  "The Central Intelligence Agency’s practice of shredding and burning classified papers—often referred to in movies and books as “ burn after reading ” —is one of several ways the CIA conserves energy, reduces its impact on the environment, and lowers costs through its sustainability efforts.