Bellevue, NE first put "green" on the map when Mayor Babbitt proclaimed Earth Day as "Bellevue Medical Center Earth Day" on April 22, 2009. On April 22, 2010, Mayor Mixan proclaimed Earth Day as Green Bellevue Day and on March 14, 2011, to celebrate our first anniversary of Green Bellevue Day and the 41st Earth Day, Mayor Sanders proclaimed March 20 - April 30th as “Spring Into Green Bellevue!” After celebrating Earth Day in Bellevue through 2013, in 2014 Green Bellevue started the annual Sarpy County Earth Day. Our tag line became "Keep it Clean! Let's Go Green!" and an effort to "Lighten the Load to the Landfill" was born to involve all five cities in the efforts to lower carbon footprint. Mayor Hike continued the tradition of an Earth Day proclamation in 2019, along with all five cities in Sarpy County and the Sarpy County Board.
Given we are not able to host the large gathering in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year we are co-hosting a Virtual Earth Day event with Earth Day Omaha on April 18, 12-4pm! In addition, we are encouraging everyone to join Earth Day Network on April 22 for the first Digital Earth Day, a global digital mobilization in a collective call for climate action. “In the face of a challenge that unites us all, whether it be coronavirus or our global climate crisis, we cannot shut down,” said Kathleen Rogers, president, EDN. “Instead, we must shift our energies and efforts in new ways to mobilize the world to action.” Please see additional details about Earth Day Network’s shift to global digital mobilization for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day here: https://www.earthday.org/press-release/coronavirus-announcement-digital-earth-day/.
Celebrating with individual efforts is a highly impactful and is in fact what we hope to inspire by celebrating Earth Day. We encourage you to take #ClimateActionNow. Here are ideas.
Earth Hour - March 28 at 8:30 pm Earth Hour places a spotlight on nature, encouraging humans to manage to keep the sky dark at night. Learn more and sign up for reminders at https://www.earthhour.org/
50th Anniversary of Earth Day/10th Anniversary of Green Bellevue Day - Sign up at https://www.earthday.org/ to receive information about Earth Day's Digital Mobilization efforts and look for publicity from Green Bellevue about Sarpy County Earth Day efforts.
Arbor Day - April 24 - Arbor Day is a nationally-celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care. Founded by J. Sterling Morton in 1872, it's celebrated on the last Friday in April. Green Bellevue along with the Bellevue Tree Board will be planting trees. We encourage everyone to plant a tree on Arbor Day!
Great American CleanUp - Keep America Beautiful has postponed the official CleanUp, however, individually we can safely clean up the trash we see as we take our walks, or at a nearby park. And stay tuned at www.kab.org for more on the annual CleanUp dates!
Plant A Garden! See these tips from Master Gardener Lisa Swanson.