This Earth Week, Evanston residents involved in community climate action organizations worked to fill a calendar with climate-related events. Earth Week runs from April 18 to April 24, surrounding Earth Day on April 22. Both Earth Week and Earth Day were created to raise awareness about climate change and encourage people to take action to protect the planet.
Junior Chloe Wingader believes that Earth Week is really important.
“I think that Earth Week makes us more grateful for our planet and can teach us how to take care of it,” said Wingader.
E-Town Sunrise, the school’s youth-led climate justice organization, and Climate Action Evanston (CAE), which has worked in the community for more than eight years, are involved in planning and hosting numerous sustainability events.
On April 19, E-Town Sunrise, Climate Action Evanston’s Youth Climate Coalition and Northwestern University climate groups teamed up to host a Youth Climate Action Accelerator at the Evanston Public Library. The accelerator created a space for Northwestern and Evanston students to brainstorm actionable climate projects. As part of the Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP), the City of Evanston and CAE have hosted larger scale accelerators in the past.
These accelerators have recently been taken over by the CAE Youth Climate Coalition and are focused on bringing together ETHS and Northwestern students to create and coordinate projects.
E-Town Sunrise members continued their Earth Week events by speaking about their work through the school’s climate curriculum. On April 21, the group spoke on a livestream through “It’s Our Future,” an Illinois-based organization that supports students advocating for climate action.
E-Town Sunrise members are also organizing the annual Climate Justice conference, which will take place on April 22 in the Upstairs Theatre. The event will feature a panel where students and E-Town Sunrise members can ask Evanston leaders and activists questions and learn more about climate action.
One of the panelists at the event will be Janet Alexander Davis, who has been recognized for her lifetime of work dedicated to justice. Davis is an active participant in numerous organizations dedicated to bettering the Evanston community.
Climate Action Evanston also has a full calendar for the week, kicking off with an Earth Day celebration on April 18, followed by a repair cafe, workdays at Edible Evanston and several other activities throughout the week.
E-Town Sunrise member senior Izzy Franconeri encourages her peers to take part in Earth Week activities.
“These Earth Day events are especially important because they provide easily accessible opportunities for students to engage with climate change as an issue and then get involved with the movement year-round,” said Franconeri.
