The weekend starts with Earth Day, this week, and both Augusta-Richmond and Columbia Counties will have their share of festivities in honoring, appreciating and stewarding the environment.
“There’s several things that are going to be happening,” said Kim Dillard, Events and Volunteer manager at Phinizy Swamp & Nature Park, about the annual Earth Day Augusta coming Saturday. “This year, we’ve decided to provide a service to Augusta.”
Earth Day Augusta is a free community event organized by Augusta University, the City of Augusta by way of Environmental Services, the Phinizy Center and SouthStar Trolley Emergency Medical Services. The day consists of coordinated activities such as nature-themed classes and workshops, presentations and entertainment.
This will be the third annual Earth Day Augusta held by this particular partnership. The city first joined forces with Augusta University to host an Earth Day event in 2013.
“We were all having our separate Earth Days,” said Dillard. “We said, ‘Wouldn’t it make sense if we did just one big Earth Day celebration.’”
Augusta Earth Day has been on hiatus for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We believe a healthy planet needs healthy people,” Dillard said, noting the magnitude of the occasion, with over 5,000 people usually attending or participating.
MORE: Evans Market returns alongside Move Columbia County
Phinizy educator Camille Sherman will talk about decomposers—living things that break down organic materials; Susan Meyers of the Georgia Native Plant Society will speak on butterflies and pollinators. Several acts such as musician Charles “CornBread”Anderson and Augusta Drum Circle are scheduled to take the stage; and dozens of vendors will be in attendance.
In the spirit of the day, alongside the celebration event Saturday morning, Earth Day Augusta will have a clean-up from 9 a.m. to noon. Over 200 volunteers have already signed up to help pick up trash at some 10 locations throughout the city, such as the Augusta Canal, Mayor’s Fishing Hole and Lake Olmstead Park.
The Journey of a Raindrop is an Earth Day outreach event for kids ages six and older, organized by the Columbia County Stormwater Compliance Department and the Evans Library.
“Everybody’s trying to decide what to do on Earth Day,” said Margaret Alligood, environmental public education Specialist for Stormwater Compliance. “We’d like to emphasize all year round is Earth Day.”
The Journey of a Raindrop program, taught by Alligood and birdwatching educator Alex Cooper, will start with a presentation, using a 3-D model called an “enviroscape,” about the journey of raindrops as they fall from the sky, land on the ground, travel through the stormwater system and into bodies of water. Afterwards the children will be guided on a mini-nature hike near the Columbia County Amphitheatre and the pond behind the library, where they will be educated about storm drains and how they flow, as well as about birds spotted along the hike.
The program is designed to encourage care for the environment by educating them about stormwater and how waterways are vulnerable to pollutants caught in storm drains.
“I feel that most people don’t understand that connection,” said Rachael Osborne, environmental project specialist with Stormwater Compliance. “Teaching the youth is very important because we’re surrounded by water on all sides. If we don’t protect it, it can go downhill very fast.”
Alligood credits her department with developing Journey of Raindrop. Several team members were discussing having some indoor education ideas for Earth Week, and she presented the prospect of a more hands-on, outdoor session.
“One of our Stormwater Department’s missions is to do outreach and educate family and youth that pollutants that go down the storm drains travel directly back to our natural water resources and aquatic life,” said Alligood. “It does not get filtered. Since we are on a gorgeous campus with a park and pond, why not actually walk from a storm drain (on our gorgeous campus) to a body of water and educate along the way and let them see firsthand a ‘Raindrop’s Journey.’”
The idea was met with support from the staff and a collaborative effort ensued, Alligood says. Both Alligood and Osborne note the advantage of raising awareness among youth.
MORE: Small Grovetown Church Hands Out 14,000 Pounds of Free Food
“We really liked the fact that we could bring it down to the level of children, because it’s simple,” Osborn said. “It’s something that can reach the adults that attend with the kids.”
Both events encourage participation, awareness, care and celebration of the local natural environment, both coordinated by parties in with the city—Stormwater Compliance in Columbia County, the Phinizy Center and Environmental Services in Richmond County—who are all too aware of the importance of, as Dillard noted, “promoting sustainability and eco-friendly practices.”
The Journey of a Raindrop program will be at the Columbia County Library at 7022 Evans Town Center Blvd. in Evans, on Friday, April 22, at 10:30 a.m. For more information, visit www.raindrop-hike.eventbrite.com.
Earth Day Augusta will be at Phinizy Swamp and Nature Park, 1858 Lock and Dam Rd., on Saturday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, or to volunteer, visit www.earthdayaugusta.org.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering education in Columbia County and business-related topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
