Claremont held its 9th Annual Earth Day Celebration in downtown Claremont on April 22. Sponsored by the City of Claremont, Sustainable Claremont, and the Interfaith Sustainability Council, the celebration attracted many members of the greater Claremont community, including community members and friends as well as Claremont College students.
This year’s celebration was appropriately named “Plant Seeds of Hope,” as the goal of the event was to foster hope in environmental movements. The celebration included live music, food trucks, children’s arts and crafts, and free paper shredding.
Organizations such as the Sunset Cycle of the Angeles National Forest, Pomona Valley Audubon Society, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District set up stations where they provided attendees with information on their missions and ways to get involved within the greater Claremont community.
Steve Sabicer, chair of Sustainable Claremont, spoke to TSL about the organization. In addition to hosting the annual Earth Day celebration, the non-profit educates the community about sustainable lifestyles through sustainability curricula, the Sustainable City Plan, the Sustainability Resource Center, and various seminars, workshops, and speaker presentations.
“We have multiple action groups, all community volunteer based, based on water, electricity, trees, garden club,” Sabier said. “Whatever the community is interested in participating in, we try to create a group tailored to that and how they can inform the community about sustainability.”
Sustainable Claremont is currently working on a project called Green Crew, a volunteer task force that plants trees, shrubs, and plants in Claremont.
Green Crew is funded by the Planting with Purpose Urban Forestry Grant by California ReLeaf. Green Crew is made up of scout troops, service groups, individual community members, and students, including 5C students.