Deadlines for the Earth Day poetry and photography contests have been extended to March 31.
This years theme, DIY: Make it, grow it, fix it, share it, will be more of a challenge for contest participants than previous themes, says Leanne Koehn, with the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society and coordinator of Celebrate Earth Day in Maple Ridge.
“It makes people think a bit harder about things and they always come out with more interesting things that you don’t expect,” she said of the contest entries.
Koehn has organized many lead-up events to the Earth Day celebrations.
The launch of the first Maple Ridge repair cafe takes place at the Maple Ridge Seniors Activity Centre, 12150 224 St. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
A repair cafe is a pop-up event where residents are invited to bring their broken items like small appliances, jewelry, clothing, small toys or furniture to get help fixing them. There will be tools and materials available to fix the items and experienced volunteers to help.
There will also be a Tinkerbell corner for children hosted by artist-in-residence Kat Wahamaa, where they can get hands on with tools, take things apart and explore how they work.
They can also create upcycled art with the different parts.
“I think our generation, we’ve kind of lost a lot of the skills of how to do things yourself because it’s such a consumer society,” said Koehn.
“It’s trying to get everybody to learn things and become more self-reliant about things. It’s also getting communities to be more self-reliant and resilient. The whole focus of sharing it brings everybody together in more of a community sense, too,” she added.
On Sunday, there will be a canning workshop to preserve food, 2 to 4 p.m. at 11390 Melville Street. The workshop will also include a talk on the financial and health benefits of canning. The workshop is $5 and the experienced host will help participants create a jar of salsa to take home.
This event you must register for at Eventbrite as there is limited space.
There will be a reusable tote bag crochet workshop on Mar. 31 using plastic yarn. Plarn is made by cutting plastic grocery bags into strips, which are then strung together into a single strand. Then it is crocheted or knit into a reusable tote, or purse or doormat.
You can bring your own plastic bag or take from the supplies at the workshop.
The workshop is split into two classes at 2 and 4 p.m. at Geek Crossing, 105 – 20285 Stewart Cres. in the Maple Meadows Industrial Park.
April 7 is Seedy Saturday at the Intergenerational Garden. The second annual seed exchange takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 22517 – 121 Ave. at the corner of Edge St. and 121 Avenue. The event will also feature a book exchange and planting table. Contact Heather Jonatschick at gardencoord@gmail.com.
The sixth annual Thornhill Plant Swap takes place April 8 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 26007 –98 Avenue in Maple Ridge. For more information, call Joan at 604-462-8778.
On April 9, the Maple Ridge Public Library will be presenting the TED Talk-like series called Local Voices. Presentations will celebrate the City of Maple Ridge, past and present, and will combine talks, readings and performances with community dialogue. The event takes place at 8 p.m. at 22470 Dewdney Trunk Rd. For more information, go to mapleridgemuseum.org.
Geek Crossing will feature another plarn and tote making workshop on April 14 from noon to 4 p.m.
April 15, there will be a free birds on tin-can stilts workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. at Robi Smith’s artist-in-residence studio at 23740 Fern Crescent, where you can learn about local birds and decorate stilts for a mini-parade. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Space is limited. To register contact Robi at robi@robismith.com.
A Freecycle donation drop-off will take place between 4 and 7 p.m. at tents set up in front of the ACT Arts Centre, 11944 Haney Place in Maple Ridge. Donations can include gently used books, toys and clothes for the Earth Day Family Freecycle at the Greg Moore Youth Centre.
Earth Day takes place April 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Memorial Peace Park.