CONTACT: Tom Sinclair, 263-5599, tksincla@wisc.edu
MADISON – Events inspired by Earth Day (April 22) may be scattered far and wide across southern Wisconsin, but now there’s a single Web site that seeks to list them all in one place.
The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently launched the site, EarthdayAction.org, to make it easier for organizers to promote their events and for people to learn about them.
“Our institute is named for Gaylord Nelson, and he is often called the founder of Earth Day,” says Hope Simon, a Nelson Institute’s staff member who maintains the site. “After Sen. Nelson died last year, we considered other ways to carry on his legacy. One obvious way was to help sustain enthusiasm for Earth Day.”
The idea for the Web site drew support from more than a dozen representatives of local and state conservation and environmental organizations who met with Nelson Institute staff members over the winter.
“Everyone agreed that having one place to post and view Earth Day-related events in the area would help,” says Simon.
Event organizers can submit information by visiting EarthdayAction.org, while people looking for ways to observe Earth Day can check its calendar.
“Earth Day activities take place not just on April 22 but sometimes days, even weeks, before and after that,” says Simon. “So the calendar covers the entire months of April and May.”
While the focus is on events in Dane County and south central Wisconsin, activities elsewhere in the state are included.
For more information, visit www.EarthdayAction.org, or contact Hope Simon at 262-9864, hksimon@wisc.edu.
