Earth Day Turns 40, Central Coast Celebrates - KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - News

Earth Day Turns 40, Central Coast Celebrates

CENTRAL COAST - Earth Day is this Thursday, April 22nd, and this year is the 40th anniversary for the annual celebration of Mother Earth.

People around the world will celebrate the planet with environmentally-friendly events.

You may have missed-out on some of the events across the Central Coast this past weekend, but there's still plenty to do to celebrate this week.

Just a few highlights include an event in San Luis Obispo's Mission Plaza on Saturday, April 24th, from 11am to 5pm. There is an Earth Day parade at 10am, before the fair.

In addition to this year being a big anniversary for Earth Day itself, SLO County will celebrate its 20th anniversary of commemorating the day, with Earth Day SLO 2010.

Compared to past years, this year's event has some new additions, including an eco-village. There, kids can learn early about how to treat Mother Earth. There also will be local vendors, recycled-art displays, "green cuisine" and even mini-classes where you can learn to be eco-friendly. One specific class will teach how to make your own plants out of scraps from old plant trimmings, compost as dirt, and local seashells as the potting.

Organizers from SLO's Earth Day Alliance are extending the eco-challenge to those who attend. Sandra Marshall of Earth Day Alliance says, "We're gonna have zero waste from the vendors, and we're asking all our vendors to have no plastic at all. For the people attending, we're encouraging them to bring your own container please we appreciate that... BUTT TO ... 09:57 So when you leave, you leave it better than when you got here."

For those in Santa Barbara County, Vandenberg air force base will hold its 10th-annual earth day celebration on thursday.

Dayle Russel: 52:00 "The goal for the day is education and outreach. It's for anybody who's on base to come by and can pick up tips or facts on how they can live their life with more responsibility with how they interact toward the Earth..." BUTT TO... "Unfortunately because of the proximity of the event, it is restricted to people who have access to the base, or if people who have access to the base want to sponsor people and bring them on, we're absolutely willing to share all the information that we have on education." 53:11

Wherever you celebrate along the Central Coast,  Earth Day advocates have one ringing message: Marshall says, "Make Earth Day Everyday."

Vandenberg Air Force Base's Earth Day celebration is Thursday, April 22nd, from 11am until 4pm.

Earth Day SLO is Saturday, April 24th, from 11am to 5pm in Mission Plaza, with a pre-parade at 10am.

We have a list of some of the Central Coast Earth Day events here.