Even though Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 every year, Chicago will be celebrating all month long with several Earth Day-inspired events. If you have an event you would like listed, please contact Lisa Davis, the Chicago Guide, at Chicago.Guide@about.com.
Celebrate Earth Day at Chicagoland's first eco-friendly restaurant prasino on Friday, April 22, from 11:00 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Tip; prasino is opening a Wicker Park location this summer.) Enjoy a prasino TREE-tini- a blend of VeeV Açaí Spirit with fresh agave nectar, club soda, white cranberry juice, lime, and mint. For every Tree-tini sold, prasino will plant a tree in the typhoon-ravaged Indian rain forest.
If you are a runner or a walker, celebrate Earth Day at the Earth Day 5K run/walk event on Saturday, April 23, starting at 8 a.m. The registration fee is $30 ($35 the day of the event). Cost for kids ages 11 to 17 is $15, and children under 10 are free. After the race, there will be an Earth Day Green Living Expo with educational booths and a farmers market.
To help kids celebrate Earth Day, the Scout Seasonal Workshop will be held on Saturday, April 23 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Chicago Botanical Garden. Girl and Boy Scouts can learn about the environment through hands-on activities that combine art and science. Participants will make recycled art and help prepare the Garden for the season. Tickets are $12.
This event is Chicago's largest multi-community Earth Day celebration with workshops, family activities, and a chance to interact with over 50 "earthy friendly" vendors at celebration's green fair. This year's theme is "Saving Green Together," and focuses on helping Chicagoans save money while saving the planet. Admission is free.
Join the Shedd Aquarium at noon on Earth Day, April 22, and volunteer during the Adopt-A-Beach event. Volunteers will be equipped with gloves, bags, and tally sheets and will groom the 12th Street Beach (1200 S. Lynn White Drive) on Museum Campus for items that cannot be collected by the Chicago Park District's tractors. The garbage and recyclables collected by volunteers will be weighed and then disposed of. Experts from Shedd’s Great Lakes conservation team will be on hand to guide volunteers throughout the event and discuss the importance of keeping the surrounding areas of Lake Michigan clean. Each volunteer will receive a complimentary conservation tool and a chance to win two tickets to a Right Bite dinner! Lunch will be provided by Aurelio's Pizza.
Brunch, a new restaurant opening in River North in late May, invites all Chicagoans and local business owners to drop off their favorite mugs for a massive coffee mug roundup. Business owners can promote their company on their mugs. All coffee mugs that are dropped off will become the serving mugs for the restaurant. Business owners and individuals interested in participating can deposit their coffee mugs at 343 West Erie during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Throughout April, Chicago’s first "eco-chic" hotel, Hotel Felix, is hosting a variety of complimentary, eco-friendly activities, and art exhibits for guests and Chicagoans. Hotel Felix kicked off "Earth Month" with its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design™ (LEED) Silver certification for commercial interiors from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Other green events include an Eco-Art Exhibit through May 5 in the hotel's lobby and a new "Green Queen" sculpture by sustainable artist Allen Christian that will be unveiled on Earth Day, April 22, at 11 a.m. The "Queen Green" is a seven-foot interactive "doorman" made from reclaimed materials.
