Earth Day a go-go

>>Montreal’s eco-friendliness
blooms this week

CELEBRATE ME: Earth

by TRACEY LINDEMAN

The year 1970 was a poignant one—Montreal came under siege during the October Crisis, four Kent State students were shot and killed by the National Guard, the Beatles disbanded, and a man named Gaylord Nelson held an environmental teach-in designed to change the way people look at the world. About 20 million Americans got some schooling that day; today, U.S.-based Earth Day Network estimates the global classroom has expanded to a half-billion pupils.

Ol’ Gaylord probably didn’t think his teach-in would catch on in over 175 countries in a matter of three decades, but more and more people around the world are carrying the torch for Earth Day. Green prophets like Al Gore and David Suzuki help ensure the environment remains front and centre on the global plane, but Earth Day—which is celebrated every April 22—helps bring lofty environmental goals a little closer to home.

There are many criticisms that Earth Day is only an ideological observance, and isn’t very good at putting things in motion when it comes to finding solutions to a growing global environmental crisis. But Earth Day isn’t meant to draw large crowds into tight spaces under the guise of national unity under a specific cause (like Gore’s Live Earth project); rather, individual communities around the world augment their collective roots by organizing activities that directly affect their neighbourhoods.

NATURE SOUNDS IN THE CITY: The National Parcs

Be one with nature

You know spring has sprung when the dirty snow melts to reveal strewn-about garbage and heaping piles of dog poo. If you find yourself in Parc Extension on Saturday, April 26, help take out a winter’s worth of trash at Jarry Park and enjoy a zero-waste picnic while you’re at it.

Schools in NDG/Côte-des-Neiges will be cleaning up too—students will be competing for cleanest and most environmentally friendly school. William Roy, coordinator for Éco-Quartier NDG-Snowdon, knows it’s important to green ’em while they’re young. “Kids are more environmentally conscious,” he says. Check in with your local Éco-quartier for events and information on recycling, composting and integrating some green into your life.

The old Forum will be overrun with young chillens as the Montreal Children’s Library presents their family-friendly Earth Day events with a scientific focus. April 19, 1–4 p.m. at the Pepsi Forum (corner Atwater and Ste-Catherine).

The Biosphere is also a sure bet for kid-centric fun on April 18 and 19—kids can make their own little wind turbines starting around 11 a.m., and then check out the two real ones, as well as other examples of green technology and architecture, on the guided tour at 12:30 p.m. Emmanuel Cosgrove and Peter Kettenbeil will also deliver lectures on environmental renovation and the future of eco-technologies. April 18–19, 11 a.m. onward at the Biosphere (Île Ste-Hélène).

Four days before Earth Day, the Choeur Maha brings 30 singing ladies, experimental music and a traditional Celtic harp to the Eastern Bloc (7240 Clark). They’ll be kickin’ out the jams in almost 10 languages, including jabberwocky, drawing from a green-inspired repertoire ranging from burlesque tunes to indie rock. April 18 and 19, 8 p.m., $10.

Bikes for all!

Most people don’t look at their rusty 10-speed and think “art.” But the folks at Cyclo Nord-Sud and Concordia’s co-op bike repair shop Right to Move certainly do, and that’s why they’re co-hosting the first Montreal Artistic Bicycle Exposition. Cyclo Nord-Sud collects unwanted bikes and parts in Quebec and redistributes them to countries in the southern hemisphere, but some antique and reconditioned classic bikes will be up for sale this weekend. If you’re not shopping for a new set of wheels but want to stop by to admire their work, you’ll get the chance to meet bicycle frame builders from Eastern Canada and watch a frame welding demonstration. April 19, 12–7 p.m. and April 20, 12–4 p.m. at Cyclo Nord-Sud (7235 St-Urbain), suggested donation: $5.

Down in the Deege, MUCS will host a collaborative bike tool and skill share and a seed-ball permaculture fiesta. And after you’ve washed the dirt and grease off your hands, you can get the 411 on MUCS projects like the dining co-op and the free school while chowing down on a vegetarian dinner. April 23, 6 p.m. at MUCS (2000 Northcliffe Square, suite 218).

What on earth…?

Up the road, Jour de la Terre Québec officially kicks things off April 22 with the planting of 38 trees—one for every year Earth Day’s been around—in a new park on Rosedale (5350 Rosedale). The park will also be home to a collective garden, and Action Communiterre is looking for volunteer gardeners in NDG to help tend the Rosedale garden and the area’s 10 other collective gardens. Call (514) 484-0223 for the session schedule.

NDG’s Co-op la Maison Verte will be partying down for Earth Day as per usual by hosting a community party with live music provided by Lake of Stew, and they’ll also facilitate children’s gardening workshops. If you consider your thumb pretty green, you can also pick up some plants for your garden. April 20 1–5 p.m., at 5785 Sherbrooke W.

Jour de la Terre director Pierre Lussier promises to bring Earth Day to Montrealers whether they like it or not. Afternoon commuters on April 22 can expect a gaggle of artsy Earth Day mascots in the metro, at the Jean-Talon market and eventually down past Square Victoria to Ottawa street, where a concert will be held outside, featuring National Parcs and DJs A Fly Is on the Wall, Weekends Never End and others. And once all the Earth Day revelers have been tucked into bed, Ottawa between Prince and Queen will become a pedestrian-only street until Oct. 31. But this isn’t just any pedestrian street—Tunisian artist Jean-Paul Ganem will transform this stretch of concrete into a living work of art; Lussier gleefully giggles that part of the street near the Darling Foundry will turn into a wheat field with picnic tables in the middle of it. Sound crazy? It probably is! April 22, 7 p.m., Ottawa, between Prince and Queen.

Last but not least, you can make changes in your life year-round that lessen the impact of your environmental footprint, and Défi Climat wants to help you take the big step. Visit deficlimat.qc.ca for more info.

For local Earth Day listings, visit www.jourdelaterre.org.

One world, one Earth Day

>> The globe gets its green on

by TRACEY LINDEMAN

As luck would have it, Earth Day is in fact celebrated around the globe. Last year, Earth Day Network members organized over 10,000 events outside the U.S. For more info on the network and events, see www.earthday.net.

Buddy Guy, the Roots, Cypress Hill, Juliette and the Licks, Toots and the Maytals, Menudo (!) and a bunch of other bands will converge in several major American cities to rock and/or roll your face off as part of the Green Apple Festival. Shows in eight cities including New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. happen April 18–20, and best of all, they’re free. See www.greenapplemusicfestival.com for the full listing of concerts.

Leading up to Earth Day, Whole Foods Market asked American and Canadian kids under 18 to submit YouTube videos for their Whole Earth Generation contest. The winning videos will be posted to the contest Web site and the winners will have the chance to host a special Whole Earth Generation podcast.

To offset the CO2 emissions caused by a giant Earth Day concert in Rome, organizers promise to create 19,700 square metres of forest in Costa Rica. Globalization works in mysterious ways.

In Dumaguete City, Philippines, the Metro Dumaguete Roadrunners Club is coordinating a series of clean-up drives and marathons to raise awareness of the deteriorating state of the Banica River, a major source of potable water for dumagueteños.

Perhaps most amazingly, the city of Los Angeles (well, a few blocks of Wilshire Blvd., anyway) is prepared to go car-free on April 22, with a street concert headlined by Michael Franti. Notorious L.A. traffic spews tons of thick smog into the air, and the lack of a comprehensive and efficient public transportation system isn’t doing anyone any favours.