The Gila Resources Information Project (GRIP) and the Continental Divide Trail Coalition will hold the Gila Earth Day x Continental Divide Trail Days festival on Saturday, April 22, 10 am -2 pm at Gough Park in Silver City. 

This is the second year that Gila Earth Day will be held in conjunction with Continental Divide Trail Days for an even bigger celebration of our environment and public lands. More than 50 organizations and businesses will showcase their mission, sustainable products, and services that honor the planet. 

Earth Day is an annual global event celebrated on April 22 to raise awareness and support for environmental protection and long-term sustainability. This year’s theme is “Invest in Our Planet” which highlights the importance of paving a path towards a prosperous future while focusing on utilizing our time, energy, and resources towards solving climate change and other important environmental issues through individual choice and policy, such as ending plastic pollution, sustainable fashion, and planting trees for ecological restoration. Participants will be able to learn about these issues and participate in related projects at this year’s Gila Earth Day celebration. 

Gila Earth Day will take on sustainable fashion with an Upcycled Fashion Show and “Swap ‘Til You Drop” clothing swap booth sponsored by SWAG Thrift Store. Other activities include a BioBlitz, scavenger hunt, Jump Zone for children, Outdoor ‘Chill Zone’ for youth, and music by DJ Ronnie Foxwitt, Steven Baird, and Fiddling Friends & Big Ditch Crickets.

Conservation and environmental organizations such as GRIP, Silver City Watershed Keepers, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, New Mexico Wild, Silver City Recycles, Grant County Archaeology Society, and Aldo’s Silver City Broadband of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness will be present to provide advice about what we can do, individually and as a community, to Invest In Our Planet. Gila Friends Meeting will have a letter writing booth facilitating letters to be written and sent to Congress in support of environmental legislation. 

Vendors will be offering upcycled and sustainable products for sale as well as a variety of seeds, native plants, and fruit trees for your yard and garden, just in time for the spring planting season. The Southwest New Mexico Seed Library will have information about gardening, seed saving and free seeds appropriate for the season while the Gila Native Plant Society will provide information about native plants that support our pollinator species. Fresh Local Foodies will have healthy food and beverages from local farms and orchards for sale, Lone Mountain Natives Nursery will be selling native plants, and the Aldo Leopold Charter School Youth Conservation Corps Garden Crew will provide native plants in return for donations.

Earth Week kicks off Saturday, April 15 with volunteer opportunities to help you give back to the planet.  Silver City’s Pick It Up – Toss No Mas litter prevention program will hold its Gila Earth Day Trash Cleanup from 9 am – noon at the Gough Park parking lot. Free t-shirts provided while supplies last. More information at silvercitytossnomas.org. 

The Silver City Watershed Keepers is hosting a San Vicente Creek Volunteer Planting Day from 9 am – 3pm to re-establish native vegetation in the San Vicente riparian corridor. Meet at 8:30 am at the Murray Ryan Visitor Center to carpool/caravan to the project site. Lunch will be provided. RSVP to silvercitywatershedkeepers@gmail.com. 

The Continental Divide Trail Coalition is organizing its Trail Days celebration April 21 - 23. The festivities begin on Friday, April 21 with a Cultural Connections Speaker Panel from 9 am - 4 pm at the Silco Theatre. A Kickoff Fiesta will be held at Little Toad Creek Brewery & Distillery from 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm with music, dancing, and fun for all. On Saturday, April 22, there will be a Free Community Pancake Breakfast starting at 9 am at Gough Park immediately followed by Gila Earth Day x Continental Divide Trail Days Festival from 10 am - 2 pm. A variety of community hikes will take place on Sunday, April 23 with Heart of the Gila. The full schedule is available at https://continentaldividetrail.org/trail-days/.  

Thank you to Gila Earth Day 2023 sponsors: Gila Resources Information Project, Continental Divide Trail Coalition, New Mexico Wild, Silver City Recycles, Lone Mountain Natives Nursery, Aldo Leopold YCC Garden Crew, Lynda Aiman-Smith, Gila Native Plant Society, SWAG Thrift Store, Lotus Center, and Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. 

If you’d like to get involved in Gila Earth Day planning or would like to register to participate in the Upcycled Fashion Show or “Swap ‘til You Drop” Clothing Swap Booth contact GRIP Projects Coordinator Candice Baca at gripcoordinator@gmail.com. More information is available at www.gilaresources.info or on Facebook @GilaEarthDay.