17th Annual Earth Day Lakeshore Celebration, April 20
There was something for everyone at this year's 17th Annual Earth Day Lakeshore Celebration. The event kicked off with a fossil-free GREEN March that included a celebratory crowd, bicycles, a horse-drawn carriage and five electric vehicles, ranging from the small Chevy Bolt to the mammoth-sized Ford F-150 Lightning. The community then enjoyed the indoor fair with more than 30 displays, vendor tables and participants all the way from Holland to the Muskegon/Whitehall area. There were demonstrations on beekeeping, how to set up composting at home, the importance of forests in communities across the state and much more.
The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter table featured a wind energy demonstration for kids, materials on upcoming events statewide, and a sapling tree giveaway provided by LGROW (Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds). In addition to Sierra Club, participating environmental groups included the Wetland Watch, West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC) and the Citizens Climate Lobby. The Sierra Club Michigan has been a part of the Earth Day Lakeshore Celebration planning team since 2016 and is one of the event's sponsors.
Rain Barrels on the Riverfront, April 21
On Sunday, April 21, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter partnered with Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and MI Rain Barrel to host Rain Barrels on the Riverfront. It was our 12th year partnering on this fun and meaningful event. This year, Sierra Club awarded 10 scholarship rain barrels to Detroit residents in financial need and another 20 rain barrels at a discounted price. All in all, we distributed close to 60 rain barrels. For the first time, another partner, East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC), joined in and provided an additional five free scholarship barrels. Our longtime partner, Friends of the Rouge, provided information about the importance of watershed protection and our signature Rain Gardens to the Rescue program.
Erma Leaphart, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter's Great Lakes organizer, coordinated the event and spoke to a crowd of close to 70 people about the importance of using rain barrels to capture stormwater. Rain barrels help prevent stormwater from entering storm drains, reducing stormwater volume and combined sewer overflows into the Detroit and Rouge Rivers.
Hosting the event along the shoreline of the Detroit River provided a powerful backdrop of the beauty of our Great Lakes watershed and the importance of protecting it from contamination via combined sewer overflows and polluted stormwater runoff.
Fourteen volunteers from the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and East Michigan Environmental Action Council helped rain barrel recipients attach hardware.