Let’s Call it a (Green) Day

Belle Isle Nature Center presents inaugural Earth Day celebration

In observance of Earth Day, the Belle Isle Nature Center is hosting its inaugural Green Day celebration on Saturday, April 22, 2017, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The free event will feature indoor and outdoor activities, including earth-friendly crafts, games, storytelling, hikes and zookeeper talks.

“To commemorate the global holiday celebrating life on our planet, we are offering visitors an opportunity to learn about various organizations dedicated to conserving the earth as well as the actions individuals can take to sustain a clean, green environment,” said Amy Greene, curator of education for the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS).

Green Day will also feature an array of local conservation specialists who will illustrate the benefits of green initiatives through an assortment of artistic and educational demonstrations.

Arts and Scraps of Detroit will exhibit some of the conservation group’s custom-designed recycled art projects to encourage households to go green with unusual materials.

Visual art from macro photographer Joseph Ferraro of Ferndale will illustrate how insects are crucial to the environment and why humans should pay close attention to the earth’s smallest ambassadors.

A beekeeper from Harding Honey in Rochester Hills will offer jars of honey and beeswax-based balms for sale and educate guests on the significance of weeds as habitats for honeybees.

The U.S. Forest Service will be on hand to introduce its charcoal disposal campaign, which will enlighten the community about the appropriate methods of disposing of and recycling charcoal ashes.

Operated by the DZS, the Belle Isle Nature Center sits on a 5-acre site surrounded by undisturbed forested wetlands on Belle Isle in Detroit.  The facility features indoor animal habitats, a bee exhibit, bird observation window, outdoor native butterfly garden, outdoor classrooms, nature play area and the Blue Heron Lagoon nature trail.

Located at the east end of Belle Isle near the Blue Heron Lagoon, the Belle Isle Nature Center is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April through October and Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November through March.  Admission to the Nature Center is free; a State of Michigan Recreation Passport is required for all personal vehicles to enter Belle Isle State Park.  For information, visit belleislenaturecenter.org.