Celebrate with us at the Ecology Center | |
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Join the Ecology Center staff and volunteers on Saturday, April 8th for the annual Egg Hunt! This fun event brings in huge crowds who compete to find the most eggs. Enjoy family friendly Easter fun and learn more about the Ladd Arboretum and Ecology Center while enjoying the festivities.
There is still availability for the 1pm-2pm and 2:30pm-3:30pm time slots. Register today!
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Earth Day at the EcoCenter | We are so excited to be part of the Ecology Center's annual Earth Day Celebration! The event will take place on Saturday, April 22nd from 10am to 12pm. The EEA will be hosting a table alongside several other Evanston environmental organizations and businesses. Come by to learn about how you can get involved with us and other community organizations to promote the greening of Evanston. No registration required. | | | |
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We are in the last month of the Indoors Farmers' Market! Catch the Indoors Farmer's Market at the Ecology Center (2024 McCormick Blvd) on Saturdays, 8am-12pm before we close for the season.
The final spring dates are listed below, click here for more information.
April 8th, 15th, 22nd, & 29th
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Toss it? No way! Visit the Repair Café! | |
Visit the repair café to get some help repairing or trouble shooting small appliances, sewing/mending clothing, or repairing jewelry! These workshops are a great opportunity to learn valuable repair skills and build a sense of community with your neighbors, as well as reducing waste. The repair café is sponsored by the Evanston Public Library and Citizen's Greener Evanston.
The repair café is hosted the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays from 10am-12pm (4/11, 4/25, 5/9, 5/23) and every 2nd Saturday (4/8, 5/13) from 10am to 1pm at Robert Crown!
Register here for Tuesdays and here for Saturday.
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Pre-order your natives before they sell out!
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The annual Bird Buzz Plant Sale will be happening on Saturday, June 3rd this year. We re-vamped our store to include a more representative selection of plants based on our sales data and we will now have all the orders pre-sorted for pick up day. You can pre-order your favorite natives here. Remember, members get a discount! You must join or renew and complete the transaction BEFORE the member discount will apply.
Plants must be picked up on June 3rd. If you cannot make the pick up date please make arrangements to have a friend pick them up for you-- all leftover plants will be considered as a donation to help re-wild Evanston.
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All about this year's Garden Walk | | |
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We are so excited to announce that ticket sales are now LIVE for the 2023 Garden Walk, which will take place from 12pm to 5pm on Sunday, June 25th! If you’ve never been to the Garden Walk before, this is an excellent year to experience the beauty of Evanston’s gardens. Take a self-guided stroll around town to see the magical landscapes that your neighbors create and learn more about each garden from volunteers stationed at each site.
We would love to see you this year on the walk! Purchase tickets here. Please note, EEA members get a discount on tickets (register or renew here, don't forget to complete the transaction BEFORE purchasing tickets to get your discount).
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We have eight private and one public garden confirmed for this year. The Clark Street Bird Sanctuary is a stand-out in the crowd for its selection of native plants; Sanctuary representatives will be stationed at the garden to tell you more about what they have done to re-wild the land.
Another one of our gardens is on the corner of two busy streets, but you would never know that when you step into the enchanting mix of vegetables and native plants. This garden is sure to leave you inspired and might spark some ideas on how to incorporate both native and fruit or veggie cultivars. Two of the gardens are even across the street from each other, demonstrating how “gardening is contagious,” as Marta P. from the Garden Walk Committee likes to say!
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A beautiful garden from last year's walk, click here to see more photos! | Do you love the Garden Walk and want to help out? We really need more garden greeters! Greeters are volunteers stationed at each garden to help check tickets and answer questions about the gardens. As a bonus, volunteers get one free ticket to the event. If you are interested in volunteering, please email gardenwalk@evanstonenvironment.org. | |
Friends of Lovelace Park are revitalizing the landscape at Lovelace | |
Volunteers working on the soil at Lovelace | |
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Friends of Lovelace Park (FOLP) is a volunteer organization made up of neighbors living near and enjoying this wonderful recreational and natural resource. They are dedicated to transforming the park into a living, breathing ecosystem by working with the city of Evanston and other organizations to maintain and enhance the park. The friends are helping with mulching, weeding, planting trees in collaboration with the City, and cultivating a native garden to help attract local pollinators to the park.
FOLP welcomes neighbors into their organization who share their love of the park and who do not mind getting their hands dirty. For more information, please contact Barry Isaacson (BarryIsaacson@comcast.net) or Catie Lott (CatieLott@gmail.com)
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Pollinators in action, what a sight to behold! Photo taken at Lovelace Park | |
See what your neighbors are doing for Evanston | |
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Elizabeth K. has a great composting solution for those without composting set ups at home. She says:
"I participate in the composting program at Robert Crown Community Center. During the week I put compostables, like napkins, leaves or paper towels, that do not smell in a plastic bin on my counter. The items that might smell are put in mason jars and stored in my refrigerator until it is time to take them to Robert Crown."
Thanks for your work Elizabeth! Composting is available at Robert Crown, please call the center at 847-448-8258 for more information.
| Our neighbor Elizabeth Kinney pictured in the Upper Peninsula | |
Craig William's trusty roadbike, photographed in front of the Ravinia venue | |
Craig W. makes the little things count by living in the most ecologically sound way he can. He says:
"My habits speak for themselves: No car since 1990, travel 99% by bike. Best estimate, I use ca. 10% of national average of electricity and water, no natural gas. I recycle all but 1-2 13 gallon bags of trash every year. I buy all clothes (except specialty items) at a thrift store. I filter all water."
Thanks for living an environmentally-conscious life, Craig!
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Did your neighbors inspire you to make small changes to help our ecosystem? Do you want to share the ways that you contribute to the re-wilding of Evanston, whether that is through volunteering, composting, or hosting native plants? Reach out to us! info@evanstonenvnrionment.org | |
Get involved with us
We are still on the hunt for board members to enrich our board, bring new ideas to the table, and share their skills. Our most needed positions are the Marketing Lead and Secretary.
The Marketing Lead is a two-year position in charge of our social media presence and email blasts. The Secretary position is an executive position lasting three years and entails taking minutes at our monthly meetings and keeping the board organized. Click the links for more information.
We also need casual volunteers for all our events, especially Garden Walk and Plant Sale!
Email us at info@evanstonenvironment.org if any of these opportunities seem interesting to you!
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The board with the MOST local honey you could ever eat, honey from the Ecology Center's Apiary! This honey was gifted to staff and volunteers. | |
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Become an EEA Member Today!
Now is the perfect time to join the EEA as a member! Not only do you get free snowshoe rentals at the Ecology Center (Monday-Friday, 9am-2:30pm), you also get discounts at the plant sale and Garden Walk. New and renewing members get discounted tickets to the Wild & Scenic Film Festival too!
When you join the Evanston Environmental Association, your fully tax-deductible gift supports the work of the Evanston Ecology Center and the activities of the EEA. Take advantage of EEA membership benefits and join today!
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