Local groups hosting Earth Day activities
Michelle Blackwood said she and other members of Friends of Shades Creek have, over time, walked the creek and all its tributaries.
And they never stop being surprised at what they find.
“There’s one of our members in particular who’s found pretty much every kind of sports ball and sports equipment,” Blackwood said. “Golf balls, tennis balls, basketballs, baseballs, soccer balls — even a bowling ball.”
Those things get there unintentionally for the most part, she said.
“I don’t think most people mean for it to end up in the stream. It happens by accident,” Blackwood said. “A ball rolls down the street, and no one picks it up, and then with the next rain it finds its way into the storm drain and it’s flowing down toward Mobile. We’d like to stop some of that.”
That’s why Blackwood said Earth Day — a yearly event started to celebrate earth’s environment and create awareness about the effects of pollution — is a great time to focus on making the space around Homewood an even better place.
Earth Day itself this year is April 22, but Friends of Shades Creek will be holding a creek cleanup on April 16, 8:30 a.m.-noon.
“I think it’s a time of the year when the earth is blooming around us and we notice it a lot,” Blackwood said. “But we also need to be thinking about protecting it.”
Other Earth Day events planned for the Homewood area include:
- Homewood High School’s Environmental Club and ROTC will sponsor a trash pick up along Armory Road to the track at Samford University y on April 22.
- Homewood Community Garden will have a table on display at the library on April 22, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. The table will include information about the garden’s community beds and seeds will be given away.
- Sims Gardens, located at 908 Highland Road in Edgewood, will have a planting station and recycled art activity April 24, 4-6 p.m. The event will include an informational table as well. Children and families are welcome and invited to stroll through the gardens on the new walking paths. For more information on the event and other spring workdays at Sims Gardens, visit facebook.com/SimsGardens. In the spirit of Earth Day, carpooling to the event is encouraged. Parking will be available in the Shops of Edgewood parking lot off of Charles Street. Contact simsgardens@gmail.com to schedule or attend tours, events, workshops, or educational programs on the property.
- In addition to their creek cleanup on April 22, Friends of Shades Creek will also have a hike from the eastern side of Homewood High School on April 24 from 2-4 p.m. “We will be talking about salamanders and wildflowers and the forest, a combo of flora and fauna,” Blackwood said. “These are the things that we preserve when we pay attention to our environment. Earth Day I think is a chance to pull people’s attention to some of these things and make people think about it a little bit more.”