“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall

For nearly 50 years, millions of people around the globe have been celebrating Earth Day. Held annually on April 22, Earth Day represents the birth of the modern environmental movement and a worldwide demonstration of support for environmental preservation. As a leader in sustainability, guided by our award-winning Greenprint initiatives, the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) annually holds GreenFest at the Detroit Zoo as a celebration of Earth Day. This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, April 22, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event is free with Detroit Zoo admission and includes a variety of engaging activities as well as a sustainability tour – complete with 10 stations that showcase our Green Journey. Upon arrival, guests will be given a “passport” that can be stamped at each of the stations. The passports were created by DZS staff using recycled millage signs and can be taken home and used as a journal.

These stations will provide guests with information about our anaerobic digester – the first zoo-based system of its kind that will annually convert more than 500 tons of manure into electricity that will power our animal hospital – as well as permeable pavement, bird-strike reduction, vehicle maintenance, recycling and native-species gardening, among others. In addition, we will be sharing information on how visitors can incorporate these initiatives at home. For example, not everyone can build an anaerobic digester in their backyard, but many can choose to compost their food scraps; we will provide information on how to start doing so.

The first 3,000 guests who complete the sustainability tour will receive a reusable bag to help them as they join us on our Green Journey. There will also be a station for folks to take our Green Pledge – several pledges will be selected in a raffle to win a Detroit Zoo reusable water bottle.

GreenFest will also include chemistry demos, worm composting education, zookeeper talks, and much more.  Additionally, a travelling art exhibition by ArtRoad Nonprofit will be unveiled during the event, illustrating the impact of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes.

Attendees who bring a cell phone for recycling to GreenFest will receive a reduced admission price of $9. Admission is free for DZS members.

The DZS will also host Green Day at the Belle Isle Nature Center on April 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Green Day will feature crafts, games, storytelling, zookeeper talks and exhibits by local conservation groups.

Both GreenFest and Green Day events are initiatives of the DZS Greenprint, a strategic plan to refine and improve green practices and facilities at the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center, incorporate sustainability in all policies and programs and improve green literacy and action in the community.

– Rachel Handbury is the manager of sustainability for the Detroit Zoological Society and oversees the Greenprint initiatives.