By Steve Garone
Are you interested in learning more about saving our planet and sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions?
This year’s Wayland Earth Day Festival will be the perfect place to do that. This exciting event, presented by Energize Wayland with support from Wayland’s Energy and Climate Committee, will be held at the Wayland Town Center on Sunday, May 4th (rain date, Saturday, May 10th).
Our theme for the day is “Enjoying and Protecting Our Planet”. About 79% of greenhouse gas emissions come from our homes and cars. The Wayland Earth Day Festival is an opportunity for individual households to transition out of fossil fuels and into non-polluting renewables.
The day will begin at around 9:45 a.m. with a number of activities aimed at exploring various ways we can enjoy the outdoors in a sustainable way. A variety of choices means there can be something for everyone.
Included will be:
Bike, ebike, and mountain bike riding
Walks on Heard Pond and elsewhere
Bird watching
The afternoon, which will begin at 12:30 p.m., is designed around a series of educational “kiosks” where attendees can learn about the different ways they can work to build a more sustainable future.
Kiosks will include:
Solar energy
Off-shore wind
Electric vehicles
Heat Pumps, which offer cooling
Geothermal
Water quality and conservation
Climate justice
Native plants
What can one person do?
Energize Wayland
Sudbury Valley Trustees
Wayland High School Green Team
Each kiosk will be hosted by concerned citizens, including science teachers and students from Wayland’s middle and high schools.
Additional kiosks will be hosted by vendors of environmentally friendly solutions like home solar and heat pumps.
In addition, for children, there will be face painting, arts and crafts, and games. Finally, plans are in the works for an ice cream truck and some additional refreshment options.
Afternoon activities until 3:00 p.m. For more information, please visit the EnergizeWayland website — https://www.energizewayland.org/actions.
