(by Katie Toussaint, CharlotteFive)

Why hasn’t Earth Day become a mass beer celebration like St. Patrick’s Day, or worthy of excessive candy consumption and house parties like Halloween? There’s hope.

Shannon Binns, Executive Director of Sustain Charlotte, told me a city/county partnership is putting on an event Saturday, April 23 in First Ward Park, which Sustain Charlotte will be part of. More than 20 organizations will be onsite to contribute to the festivities, including music and an acrobat show, from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m.

“Many large companies in the area (like Belk and UTC Aerospace) hold Earth Day events for their employees this week,” Binns said. “It would be great if we came together in a bigger way — maybe an Earth Day parade — but hopefully this year’s event in First Ward Park will be the start of something big. Why? According to the Earth Day Network, ‘more than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.’ Our shared reliance on the Earth is the one thing that unites us all.”

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