Local Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities celebrate Earth Day 2023

Earth Day is annually a big day of celebration in the Chapel Hill and Carrboro area. This year is no different. 

All around Chapel Hill and Carrboro on Saturday and Sunday, organizations hosted and are hosting events that combine outdoor learning with fun.

The Town of Carrboro is partnering with the Chapel Hill Service League to host an Earth Day celebration event on Sunday, April 30, from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. It was rescheduled from Saturday to next Sunday due to weather concerns. The free event, which will be held at the Carrboro Town Commons, will provide attendees with the ability to learn more about environmental topics. 

John Tatreau, a member of the Triad Electric Vehicle Association, said he is helping organize the Drive Electric Earth Day event that will be a part of Carrboro’s holiday celebration. 

Because the town is a climate-friendly community, Tatreau said there is a lot of interest in electric vehicles.

At the event, which will be hosted at the Carrboro Farmers' Market, he said there will be seven electric vehicles on display. Tatreau said the owners of the vehicles will also answer any questions visitors might have. Additionally, he said there will be information about electric scooters and bikes, which may benefit students in the area.

Before buying his Kia EV6, Tatreau said he did a lot of research on electric vehicles. Through helping with this event, he said he hopes to encourage others to ask questions that may lead to them purchasing their own electric vehicle. 

“It’s really an event to educate people on what is being done by the community and also what you can do as an individual to improve the environment and lower your own personal footprint,” Tatreau said.

From 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Two Mules hosted the Haiti Benefit Earth Day Festival at The Farm at Alice Ingram Circle in Chapel Hill.

Joe Herbert, a co-founder of Two Mules, said that in the countryside of Haiti, there are large levels of deforestation due to overharvesting, which has resulted in farmers not being able to rely on the soil for their crops. Herbert said he would like to combine education about regenerative agriculture with education about Haitian culture.

“We’re in the process of developing projects that will integrate reforestation efforts or forest management with agriculture,” he said.

Herbert said organizations presented information about reforestation at the event. He also noted that Two Mules will be working with universities to fill research internship vacancies in the field of agroforestry.

In addition to the informational session, Herbert said the event featured three local bands, Haitian coffee and chocolate, food trucks and art for sale.

From 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, the Carrboro Farmers' Market held its 16th annual Kids Seedling Day event. 

Maggie Funkhouser, the market manager of the Carrboro Farmers Market, said the goal of this event was to inspire kids to start gardening by giving them their own seedlings to plant. She said the seedlings are typically tomatoes, peppers and herbs and are donated by farmers. 

“Our kid seedling day is really meant to inspire young gardeners because growing your own food is very empowering,” Funkhouser said.

She said the event is a partnership with Fifth Season Carrboro, who sponsored the event. The organization provided soil, planting tips and a 50-gallon rain barrel to be raffled. 

Funkhouser also said the Town of Carrboro partnered with the Poets Council and Carrboro’s poet laureate for an Earth Day community poetry event. She said kids were able to write a line of poetry that the poet laureate will organize into a larger community poem.

She also said she was excited that Earth Day was on a Saturday this year.

“I think it's a really fun reason to have an extra special event," she said.

@sierrapresident

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