Local news delivered daily to your email inbox. Subscribe for FREE to the rdnewsNOW newsletter.

Red Deerians celebrate Earth Day at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre

Apr 22, 2018 | 5:30 PM

Red Deerians celebrated International Earth Day on April 23 by converging on the Kerry Wood Nature Centre at the Gatez Lakes Sanctuary.

The annual event allowed members of the public to enjoy the natural surroundings and find out more about local environmental initiatives from organizations such as ReThink Red Deer, Red Deer Bee Keepers Association, Central Alberta Lyme Society and City of Red Deer which made staff available to talk about their Environmental Master Plan.

Tanya Wells, Public Programmer / Special Events Coordinator, Kerry Wood Nature Centre says a representative from Peavey Mart was also on hand to help plant three inch pea-pots for people to take home with some seeds that were donated by ReThink Red Deer. They showed residents how to use worm composting.

Wells says hosting Earth Day activities is a no-brainer for the Kerry Wood Nature Centre.

“Environmentalism is what we do,” exclaims Wells. “We love everything about nature and the environment and any chance we have at educating the public, helping them find their ‘green’ path, that’s what we do.”

In addition to some children’s activities such as colouring and making frogs out of recycled cards, Wells says the event also featured recipes on how to ‘go a little greener’ and make litter-less lunches.

As a community, Wells feels Red Deerians are headed in the right direction in terms of their environmental efforts.

“I believe that Red Deer is becoming a lot more aware in recent years,” says Wells. “I think the trend will continue to grow as people get more comfortable with planting and harvesting their own crops, their own gardens and working with the community gardens. Organizations like ReThink Red Deer are certainly helping to make that easier on people.”

Strong support of the City’s community gardens, including the newest one at Fort Normandeau which is a heritage community garden and completely accessible, is another sign Red Deerians are trying to ‘go green’.  

However, she encourages more residents to consider purchasing rain barrels as well.

“It’s collecting water that comes down naturally, helping to water your gardens or any of your other water needs,” Wells says. “Working with solar powers, any way that you can kind of go a little bit off-grid and help with that carbon footprint is important.”

“Remember to be kind to the environment, respect it,” continues Wells. “We’ve got to have it around for a long time and there are so many different resources available through the City, through nature centres like ours. There are resources on hand for the average Joe that they can make changes in their lives to help.”