Chula Vista’s Memorial Park will host the third annual South Bay Earth Day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 6.
This will be the first year the Memorial Park hosts the event, with the previous two editions being held at Bayside Park.
The free event will include a green-artist gallery, educational games for children, a fix-it clinic, a tie-dye workshop, an organic food truck, yoga classes and more.
Victor Sanchez, Chula Vista’s sustainability specialist, said the event is about making the proper changes now to help prepare the future.
“We want to reduce our carbon footprint,” he said. “We want to make a Chula Vista that is cleaner and greener for future generations.”
In addition to crafts and activities, attendees will be able to go to booths run by representatives of both Chula Vista’s Smart City and CLEAN initiatives, which work together with a goal of enhancing the city through environmentally cautious and tech-savvy methods.
“We want to start creating habits, lifestyle changes now that we can teach our kids and then they can grow up with as being normal,” Sanchez said. “Some of those things have kind of been lost over the years.”
A new event for this Earth Day will be a live-chicken workshop, where an expert will host an educational discussion meant to raise awareness on the environmental and health benefits of keeping the birds as household pets.
Manuel Medrano, Chula Vista’s environmental services manager, said it is necessary for all residents to stay up-to-date on how to live a “green” lifestyle.
“We learn about it every day, how we need to help out or do something for our environment,” he said. “Whether you believe in climate change or not, having a cleaner environment is important.”
Medrano said the event is being billed as a “zero waste event,” meaning that 90 percent of all resulting waste will be either composted or recycled.
“We’ll have folks actually at the trash stations informing people what items are recyclable and what are not and what goes where,” he said.
The shift to the Memorial Park was done intentionally, according to Medrano, who said heavy-wind had been an issue at past events, and warned that parking along the marina is going to worsen with ongoing projects.
Parking should be less of an issue at Memorial Park, but Medrano said a valet area has been set up where attendees can safely leave bikes, and he called on attendees to travel by either public transit or bicycle, if possible.
“It’s actually a whole corral area, where we will have supervision over peoples bicycles and to encourage alternative transportation,” he said.
The event is important to Chula Vista’s office of sustainability, with Medrano referring to it as the office’s, “marquee event.”
“We want to make sure we showcase as much as possible,” Medrano said. “And inform people while they are entertained.
