Milton will celebrate the Earth this year not with a single event but several opportunities to embrace, understand, and improve our planet in various ways.

The festivities will run from April 15 through April 22, which is a Monday and the actual Earth Day. There will be no festival as in years past, but rather hands-on activities for people to get out into or make a positive impact on nature.

“We want people to actively get out to really experience the outdoors in Milton, in some cases while actively doing something to help it,” said Environmental Program Manager Emily Groth. “This seemed like a great way to really celebrate our planet.”

The current schedule includes: 

• APRIL 15: The rollout of Milton’s new Junior Ranger program, an organized, interactive way for children to become more familiar with and nurturing of the outdoors in Milton. The plan is to invite those interested in becoming Junior Rangers to a guided hike through Providence Park starting at 5 p.m. that Monday.

   

• APRIL 17: The Milton Bee Club invites people out to an introduction to beekeeping class at Milton City Park and Preserve (behind the Community Center). This session is designed for kids, but parents can join their children in learning and participating. This Youth Beekeeping Class will kick off at 4 p.m. that Wednesday.

   

• APRIL 18: What’s the best way to care for a tree so that it not only survives but thrives? City Arborist Sandra Dewitt will lead a “tree care” class, again at Milton City Park and Preserve. Come with questions and ready to take notes! This is part of Plant! Milton, an initiative aimed at educating, engaging, and encouraging tree planting. (You can learn more about that at www.miltonga.gov/PlantMilton.)  This Arborist-led session will start at 6 p.m. that Thursday.

   

• APRIL 20: This Saturday is your opportunity to make not just one, but two beautiful City parks even more beautiful and better. All are invited first to the annual Birmingham Park Clean-up Day from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Then, a short time later between 1 and 3 p.m., there will be a clean-up at Bell Memorial Park – specifically, the Mark Law Arboretum section.

        In addition, the City will host a Bulky Waste a Bulky Waste Amnesty Dropoff from 10 a.m. to noon at Providence Park. So if you have a past-its-prime sofa, no-longer needed box spring or mattress, outdated car seat, and other such larger things to discard, you can bring it here. (For more on this event, go to https://www.miltonga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/2324/1351/.)

• APRIL 22: Experts from Birds Georgia (the non-profit formerly called the Georgia Audubon) will guide anyone interested on a “bird walk” through Providence Park. They will point out different species, habitats, and other facts about Milton’s feathered friends. This will start at 9 a.m. at the Providence Park trailhead. Later that day, the City Council is set to approve a proclamation declaring April 22 as Earth Day in Milton.

Like a walk in the park, all the activities above are free. Still, to allow for suitable preparations, we’re asking people to register in advance via this link: www.miltonga.gov/EarthWeek.

In addition, all week people can swing by the Milton Library – a Fulton County facility but much appreciated partner of the City of Milton – to create upcycled bookmarks with supplies donated by Milton High School’s National English Honor Society chapter.

If you have questions or would like to learn more about these activities or Earth Week in general, you can contact Environmental Program Manager Emily Groth at Emily.Groth@miltonga.gov.