Earth Day to be celebrated on April 20 by Inland Empire Utilities and Chino Creek Wetlands

Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA) and Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park (CCWEP) will celebrate Earth Day on Thursday, April 20 from 4-7 p.m. at CCWEP. The event is the 9^th Annual Earth Day Celebration for the two agencies and will be held at CCWEP. The event is presented by IEUA and the city of Chino.

The celebration’s festivities will include tours of CCWEP, earth-friendly activities, environmental exhibits and shows, giveaways and other activities.  KGGI 99.1 radio will also be present. Although California’s drought has been official ending – except in certain areas of the state’s Central Valley – IEAU will providing information on ongoing water conservation, water saving habits to adopt and information on their automatic water softener removal rebates.

Earth Day was the brainchild of Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of a 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara. He persuaded Pete McCloskey, a then U.S. California Congressman, to serve as his co-chair and together they forced environmental protection and consciousness onto the national political agenda.

On April 22,1970, 20 million Americans – many of them students from Junior high schools to college students – organized efforts to aid the environment and helped create the first Earth Day. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been struggling independently to address oil spills, water pollution, factories and power plants polluting the air and water, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

The first Earth Day saw a rare political alignment, enlisting support from both Republicans and Democrats. By the end of the year, the first Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency as well as the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. “It was a gamble,” Gaylord recalled, “but it worked.”

Today, Earth Day is widely recognized throughout the United States and beyond. In recent years, climate change and global warming have joined in the environmental protection and consciousness. This year’s national Earth Day theme is Environmental and Climate Literacy.

Dozens of events are being staged throughout California by water agencies, conservationists, environmental groups and others.  The friends of the Los Angeles River (FOLAR) is staging work-party events for “Help Clean UP the LA River” at multiple locations along the river from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 22. They have highlighted the fact that 200 years ago the Los Angeles River was a lush, green flowing river through the heart of the city and was the city’s only water source. Flooding in the river in 1938 took 85 lives and concrete canals were built to preclude a reoccurrence of that disaster.  FOLAR’s efforts are already underway to “re-green” the Los Angeles River by staging 15 work sites along the river.

Cucamonga Valley Water District (CVWD), in Rancho Cucamonga, held an early Earth Day event on Saturday, April 8^th. More than 1,500 community members attended the region’s largest Earth Day & Open House. The event offered multiple resources and activities including over 50 vendors and booths, from solar panel companies to community groups to kids’ activities. Event highlights included landscape workshops, document shredding, and master of ceremonies Joel Greene- creator, producer, and host of PBS’s “Curiosity Quest.” New this year was the opportunity for test drives in electric vehicles.

The upcoming 9^th Annual Earth Day Celebration is a free event though carpooling to the event is encouraged as parking is limited. Parking will be available in two locations – 15975 El Prado Road and 6075 Kimball Ave – both are in Chino.  The Kimball Ave. location features free electric charging stations.

For further information on the IEUA and CCWEP celebration contact IEUA at 909-993-1600 or the city of Chino at 909-334-3472.