Earth Day Festival (in Hailey, Idaho)

Since I’m still adventuring around mountain towns, last weekend I rode a free bus to Hailey, Idaho, to attend their Earth Day festival. While rounding the corner to enter this local community event, I saw the beautiful mural above. Hailey’s entire Earth Fest was equally delightful. So I want to share photos from this event, plus a few meaningful lessons taught on Earth Day.

It’s definitely worth it to eat climate-friendly (plant-based vegan) food. We saw how good it is for our health, the earth, and the animals.

Climate-friendly food can also be affordable, even when eating out. This can benefit our wallets, our social skills, and the community.

All animals on earth deserve protection (including those without collars).

Eco-friendly pens and pencils are easily found online. In bulk. We can now default to them.

Wherever we’re traveling or living, we can help any local community.

Community compost bins can make all the difference.

The kindest individual taught us why the Arctic needs protection. How we must stop harming our earth with outdated practices. Why capitalism should never be allowed to harm.

“The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, located in the northeast corner of Alaska, is one of the finest examples of wilderness remaining anywhere in the world.

“It is a perfect example of intact, naturally functioning Arctic and subarctic ecosystems. In fact, such a broad spectrum of diverse habitats occurring within a single protected unit is unparalleled in North America.

“Species including caribou, polar bears, waterbirds, arctic foxes, black and brown bears, Dall sheep, moose and muskoxen all rely on this diverse habitat.

“The coastal plain serves as birthing grounds for the Porcupine caribou in summer and the most important land denning area for America's threatened polar bears in winter.

“Approximately 200 species of birds call the Arctic Refuge home at least part of the year, including snowy owls, Arctic terns and golden eagles.

“The Arctic Refuge covers 19.6 million acres in northeast Alaska, and includes the Mollie Beattie Wilderness, the second largest wilderness area in the U.S. at 8 million acres.

“The Inupiaq village Kaktovik is located on the Arctic Ocean coast while the Gwich’in people live in several villages to the south along the border of the Arctic Refuge.

“The Alaska congressional delegation remains determined to see oil and gas development move forward in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, including destructive seismic exploration on the Arctic Refuge's coastal plain.

“This push is the result of Congress passing a controversial tax bill in 2017 that mandated an oil and gas program for the Arctic Refuge, to include two lease sales to be held by 2024 for the coastal plain, sacred lands of the Gwich’in people and vital habitat for caribou, polar bears and migratory birds.

“In addition to threatening wildlife, the Center For American Progress (CAP) has prepared a rundown on the waste of taxpayer money that drilling the Arctic Refuge would be.

“CAP also found that burning the extracted oil and gas from the Arctic Refuge would mean another 4.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent released into the atmosphere, roughly equivalent to two-thirds of U.S. annual emissions in 2017.

“For more on the fight to protect the Arctic Refuge, visit Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign.”

Mending can be beautiful.

Induction cooking has eco benefits.

T-shirts can become utensil holders.

Children in this mountain town are helping to save the bees by growing flower seedlings in biodegradable cups and giving them away to the public. Unabashedly. What a lovely sight.

I hope nothing stops these children and their seedlings. It is so special to see youngsters who care about doing the right thing.

Children also asked visitors to write down what they will do this year to save the earth. What fun it was to read the entries.

Last, but not least, recycling can be beautiful. Just like all the sustainability efforts happening in the mountain town of Hailey, Idaho.