Join in celebrating Earth Day for the whole month

Instead of just celebrating Earth Day, Charlotte is kicking off a celebration of Earth Month on April 1.

A coalition of Charlotte organizations has been working to coordinate a variety of Earth Month activities from tree planting to storytelling. Attend one of the many free events listed below to get involved and make an impact alongside your friends, family and neighbors.

Several of these events rely on volunteers for their success, and organizers would love your help. To learn more and get the latest details, visit the website.

Free Earth Month events

• Eclipse Party at the Charlotte Library on Monday, April 8, from 2:15-4:15 p.m. Celebrate the total eclipse on the Charlotte Town Green. Special glasses will be available, cookies to decorate and craft activities to help mark this special day.
• Come to the library for some fun and festive stories to celebrate Earth Month on Tuesday & Friday, April 10&12, 10 a.m. For ages 2 years and over with parent or caregiver.
• Tree planting and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new town garage and along the Town Trail on State Park Road on Saturday, April 13, 10 a.m. Volunteer to help plant 48 bare-rooted trees. Bring your family and a shovel and gloves. Help plant, spread mulch and stake the trees into pre-dug holes. A sign-up sheet for volunteers will be available at the library and through Front Porch Forum. People interested in volunteering can also email. The event at the new town garage will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the solar panels recently installed on the roof of the garage.
• Vernal Pool Walk and Birding for Kids sponsored by the Lewis Creek Association Saturday, April 13, 9-11 a.m. Signup. Space is limited.
• Repair Cafe: Saturday, April 13, 10-2 p.m. at the Charlotte Congregational Church.
• The Repair Cafe is a four-hour community party of talented local folks that volunteer their handy skills to repair your broken stuff. Bring your things to the Repair Cafe’ and watch and learn as these handy folks do their magic. If you’d like to be a fixer there’s always room for you at the cafe. Food is available for sale and donations to the food shelf are encouraged. For more info and to register here. Sponsored by Sustainable Charlotte, The Charlotte Congregational Church and the Charlotte Grange
• The Charlotte Pollinator Pathway is a volunteer community effort to build biodiverse habitats at key public buildings, along historic roads and in private gardens throughout our community sponsored by Sustainable Charlotte. For more info email Julie Parker-Dickerson at [email protected]. Bring your tools and get your hands dirty on Monday, April 15, 3-5 p.m. — clean up at the Quinlan Covered Bridge; Wednesday, April 17, 3-5 p.m. — clean up at the Lewis Creek Gardens at the end of Lewis Creek Road; and Friday, April 19, 2-4 p.m. — clean up at the Mt. Philo and Spear Street Garden.
• “Beaverland” book talk with author Leila Philip on Thursday, April 18, 7 p.m., at Pierson Library in Shelburne. Celebrate the release of “Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America” in paperback. In the naturalist tradition of “H Is for Hawk” and “The Soul of an Octopus,” this book is the story of how beavers and the beaver fur trade shaped America’s history, culture and environment.
• Stories of earth activism at the Charlotte Library on Earth Day, Monday, April 22, 7 p.m. Since Earth Day’s founding in 1970, it has inspired generations of people to improving and protecting the environment. They have done this through direct action, public campaigns and establishing environmental organizations. We wouldn’t have the Clean Air Act or other environmental legislation without these citizen efforts.

Join with others to hear and share stories of taking action to make a difference. Get inspired by hearing how Charlotte’s conservation organizations got started. Participants will have a chance to share stories from their lives and dream with others about actions that can be taken in Charlotte and Vermont to protect our environment. Refreshments will be served.

• Earth Month celebration on Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Charlotte Library. The coalition responsible for organizing Earth Month activities will hold an Earth Month Celebration with guest speakers, prizes, local food and more. Hear from Ethan Tapper, Chittenden County Forester; create soup from gleaned veggies; and learn how food waste reduction can be a tool to stop the climate crisis.

Bring your picnic lunch to enjoy along with Disco Soup and Backdoor Bread. Several town committees, commissions, nonprofits and other groups will be in attendance to share information about their environmental efforts. The Charlotte Energy Committee will be giving away energy-saving devices such as low-flow shower heads and outlet gaskets and make-your-own insect hotels.

Guided tours of the rain garden at the Charlotte Library will be led by Linda Hamilton. The Lewis Creek Association will have copies of their new landowners guide, “Ahead of the Storm.”

Earth Month activities to do throughout the month

• Visit the Seed Library at the library. Include some tried-and-true heritage varieties in your vegetable garden this year. The Seed Library is offering small packets of seeds of beans, tomatoes, peas and more. Sign out your selections, follow the guidelines and library workers will help you learn how to save the seeds for yourself and to share with others.

The Seed Library is located in the Adult Reading Room. The 2024 seed catalog is available there in hard copy or at charlotteseedlibrary.org. Questions? Email and coordinators Karen Tuininga and Linda Hamilton will be happy to help.

• The town-wide Ecochallenge, running from April 1-30, is a 30-day program focused on environmental and social engagement with the slogan: Take action for every ecosystem, every creature: your choices shape our world. During this month, you’re invited to select actions that resonate with your values, committing to them for 30 days to foster and reinforce positive habits. Each action you complete earns points and generates real-world impact. Your efforts, combined with those of your team, contribute to a significant difference. Join the team.
• Carpool, walk, bike and take the bus from Shelburne or Hinesburg.
• Visit the Solar Shed at Charlotte Central School, enjoy the garden and charge your device or e-bike from the free solar-powered outlet just inside the shed.
• Visit the Charlotte Energy Committee’s website for more information on ways to conserve energy
• There are resources and information at the Charlotte Library. Check out the display of books, tools and other items. From cookbooks to moisture meters, to a conservation corner, you’ll find resources to keep your Earth Month going.

Upcoming events; dates to be determined

• Planting pollinator friendly, native plants at the Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge. Call Sue Smith from the Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge Committee at 802-373-7942.
• Take your fiber art to the great outdoors. Join our crochet-and-knit crew for a yarn bomb adventure on the library porch. For more info call the library at 802-425-3864 or visit the library website.
• The tree warden will partner with the Greening School and the Sustainability Committee to celebrate Arbor Day in Vermont by planting a tree, donated by Horsford Garden and Nursery, at Charlotte Central School.

(The Earth Month coalition includes the Charlotte Public Library, Charlotte Energy Committee, Lewis Creek Association, Sustainable Charlotte, Charlotte Tree Tenders, Pollinator Pathways, Charlotte Grange, Charlotte Land Trust, Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge and Charlotte Conservation Commission.)