Earth Day Marin: Create a Better World

Watch the trailer for Earth Day Marin 2023.

Highlights

This year’s Earth Day Marin featured a wide range of popular attractions:

• 75+ green exhibits such as MCE, Good Earth, Sustainable Marin and more!  

• Climate Action Center with Green Pledges, Green Tips, Earth Day games, prizes and more! 

• Musicians: Matt Jaffe, Andre Thierry, Michael Ryther, Lola Guthrie, Dore Coller, Freedom Singers, Pilár and Alma Soongi Beck

• Activities: Anytown USA, Earth Wheel, Human Triangle, Make Your Own Art, Make Your Own Sign, Wishing Tree Altar

• Puppets: Mother Earth’s Puppet Playhouse, a mobile theater from Autistry Studios

• Outdoor Art: Tess Felix, Phyllis Florin, Zoe Fry, Freddy Hahne, Howard Rheingold and more

• Art Exhibit: Nature’s Hope and Fury with Fabrice Florin, Janey Fritsche, Al Grumet, Tom Killion, Vi©kisa and more

• Youth Zone: environmental youth tables, youth poetry and a youth art exhibit, The Future We Create

• Youth Workshops: meetings with elected representatives at Climate Future Workshop

• New electric vehicles at the EV & Ebike Show by Ride and Drive Clean

• Free Ebike rides with Mad Dogs & Englishmen, free valet bike parking by MCBC

• Speakers: government officials Damon Connolly, Stephanie Moulton-Peters, Max Perrey, Dennis Rodoni, Mary Sackett and Jim Wickham – and climate activists Fabrice Florin, Harita Kalvai, Nicole Gardner, Kevin Morrison and Anne-Christine Strugnell

• FREE ice cream from Straus Family Creamery!

For a preview of what Earth Day Marin was like, watch this trailer, view our photos and videos of our popular event.

If you missed some of our event’s music and talks, you can now watch the full video recordings from our Earth Day Marin Stage: Session 1, Session 2, Session 3 and Session 4. Last but not least, be sure to crank up the sound for great music by Lola Guthrie, Andre Thierry and Matt Jaffe. 

Impact

Earth Day Marin 2023 was a big success! Here’s what we accomplished together.

We welcomed about 1,500 participants of all ages and backgrounds, from all across Marin and the Bay Area.  We brought together a diverse community of partners, musicians, artists, speakers, educators, youth, volunteers and visitors from all across Marin and the Bay Area.

Most participants we surveyed said our event was excellent or very good (75% of survey responses). They particularly liked our booths, music, activities, art, evs and youth programs. 

What did our event accomplish? Earth Day Marin helped build a community of activists, welcomed young people, promoted our partners and helped us take action.

Participants told us they learned about many climate actions, such as: using clean energy, biking and walking more, consuming less, driving an electric car, protecting nature, saving water, managing our waste, promoting climate justice, supporting young activists and building healthy communities!

The best part is that 65% of survey respondents told us they plan to take one or more climate actions this year! That’s music to our ears … 🙂

Overall, our big environmental festival delivered a higher impact than last year’s event: more partners, more visitors, more activities, more youth, more diversity, deeper engagement, more learning opportunities – and more community connections. What’s not to like?

We are grateful to all our participants for sharing our positive vision of building a more just and sustainable world, through action!

To learn more, see our first report and slides. More detailed reports will be available this summer.

Meet our partners

Here are the partners who exhibited and/or sponsored Earth Day Marin:

Active Mill Valley • Art Works for Change • Autistry Studios • Bay Area Air Quality Management District • Bellows Service • Bye Bye Mattress • California Sunlight • City of Mill Valley • Climate Reality Bay Area • County of Marin • Creekside Pizza & Taproom • Equator Coffees • Friends of Alto Tunnel • Good Earth Natural Foods • Green Change • Harvest Thermal • John Owens Services • Mad Dogs & Englishmen • Marin Citizens’ Climate Lobby • Marin Community Foundation  • Marin County Bicycle Coalition • Marin County Sustainability Team • Marin Sanitary • Marin SEL • Marin Water • MCE Clean Energy • Mill Valley Emergency Preparedness Commission • Mill Valley Recreation • Mill Valley Refuse Service • Mill Valley Seniors for Peace • Mill Valley StreamKeepers • OFA Marin • Organic Cleaning Supreme • Outdoor Art Club • Pact • QuitCarbon • Resilient Neighborhoods • Rex Foundation • Ride and Drive Clean • Straus Family Creamery • Surfrider Foundation • Sustainable Marin • Sustainable Mill Valley • Sustainable San Rafael • 350 Marin • Transportation Authority of Marin • Vitality Bowls • Wastewater Treatment Agencies of Marin • WTB-TAM • World Wrapps • YardSmartMarin • Youth Action Through Art, Zero Waste Marin and more!

Thanks to all our gracious partners for making Earth Day Marin possible!

We invite you to visit their websites, where they can help you take action for a better world. See their logos below.

Take Action

We created Earth Day to help each other take climate action in our own lives.

Green Change greeters welcomed visitors at our Climate Action Center and invited them to learn about climate action, as well as make a green pledge for actions they want to take — or share an action they had already taken. They could also play our Earth Day Quest, for a chance to win Earth Day Prizes.

To make it easy for them, we had big signs with our recommended actions, with QR codes linking to Green Change‘s online Action Guides and Green Tips:

• ENERGY: Use Renewable Electricity • Use Home Batteries • Switch to LEDs

• TRANSPORT: Drive an Electric Car• Ride an Electric Bike • Take Public Transit

• HOME: Electrify your Home • Weatherize your Home • Prepare for Wildfire

• FOOD: Eat Less Meat • Don’t Waste Food • Grow Your Own Food

• LIVING: Live Lightly • Save Water • Use Less Plastic

• POLITICS: Support Climate Justice, Support Young Activists, Support Green Leaders

Hundreds of participants stopped by and appreciated this unique opportunity to learn about all the actions they could take to make a green change in their lives.

Featured Activities 

Earth Day Marin offers a wide range of playful and informative activities for all ages:

Anytown USA • Earth Wheel • Green Pledges • Cooperation • Make Your Own Art • Make Your Own Sign • Mother Earth Puppet Playhouse • What Goes Where

Meet the Musicians

Here are some of the musicians who performed on Earth Day Marin’s outdoor stage:

Matt Jaffe, Andre Thierry, Lola Guthrie, Freedom Singers, Michael Ryther, Dore Coller, Pilár, Alma Soongi Beck – and more!

They played a wide range of music, from rock ‘n roll to bluegrass, K-Pop dance, sing-alongs, and zydeco soul music.

If you missed some of our music performances, you can now watch the full video recordings from our Earth Day Marin Stage: Session 1, Session 2, Session 3 and Session 4.

And you can enjoy those stand-alone videos of performances by Lola Guthrie, Andre Thierry and Matt Jaffe.

For event highlights, be sure to watch our cool Earth Day Marin Trailer (music by Andre Thierry) — and more fun videos in our Vimeo album.

Meet the Speakers

Here are some of the community leaders who spoke on Earth Day Marin’s outdoor stage, in chronological order:

Kevin Morrison • Fabrice Florin • Jim Wickham • Max Perrey • Dennis Rodoni • Damon Connolly • Anne-Christine Strugnell • Stephanie Moulton-Peters • Nicole Gardner • Mary Sackett •  Harita Kalvai

They spoke about individual and collective actions we can take in our own lives to create a better world.

If you missed any of these talks, you can now watch the full video recordings from our Earth Day Marin Stage: Session 1, Session 2, Session 3 and Session 4. 

Our outdoor stage was hosted by Green Change team lead Kevin Morrison, with the help of sound engineer Paul Thomas, tech director Tim Pozar and other gracious volunteers. We are grateful to them all!

Meet the Artists

Here are some of the artists who exhibited at Earth Day Marin:

Tess Felix • Fabrice Florin • Phyllis Florin • Janey Fritsche • Al Grumet • Freddy Hahne • Rodger Jacobsen • Tom Killion • Richard and Judith Lang • Suzanne Lewis • Geo Monley • Zea Morvitz • Tim Park • Debbie Patrick • Howard Rheingold • Ernesto Sanchez • Laurie Mahan Sawyer • Stuart Sharpe • Richard Shaw • Donna Solin •  Helen Stanley • Vi©kisa  … and more!

Art Exhibits at Earth Day

Green Change and our partners hosted 3 art exhibits to celebrate Earth Day:

• Nature’s Hope and Fury, an indoor exhibit at the Mill Valley Community Center – April 1 to 23

• Earth Day Art, an outdoor exhibit of large artworks on the green – April 23 only

• The Future We Create, a youth art exhibit presented by YATA – April 23 only

For your viewing pleasure, here are photos from Nature’s Hope and Fury, our indoor exhibit. For more art photos, you can browse our edited Earth Day Flickr Album. Enjoy!

Electric Vehicles 

Visitors checked out the latest electric cars at the EV & Ebike Show by Ride and Drive Clean! 

And they test-rode ebikes with Mad Dogs & Englishmen in our back lot!

Folks also learned more about cycling our special Bike Zone, featuring the Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC), WTB-TAM, Active Mill Valley and Friends of Alto Tunnel. 

People cycling to the event were happy to use our Free Bike Valet Parking hosted by MCBC in the Mill Valley Middle School lot (see parking map).

Play Games

Visitors joined some fun, climate-themed games to inspire action and environmental awareness.

Carnival games included: Stop, Drop and Roll – a bean bag tossing game; and Climate Jenga, out on the lawn.

Video games in the indoor Cascade Room include Snake, a game that explores humanity’s relationship with fossil fuels; Tipping Point, a game about solutions to the climate crisis; and Carbon Crush, a game to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

Youth Activities

Young people from across Marin and the Bay Area participated in a broad range of youth activities, including: a climate advocacy workshop, youth art exhibit, poetry reading, tabling and volunteer opportunities. 

We also offer a range of fun activities for younger children, including art making, earth wheel, puppets and more.

Healthy Food

Earth Day Marin offered healthy, organic and tasty food from our partners.

• Vitality Bowls – delicious açaí bowls with fresh fruit and granola
• World Wrapps – healthy, globally inspired wraps and bowls
• Straus Family Creamery – FREE ICE CREAM!

Thanks to our partners!

We are grateful to all our partners who made Earth Day Marin possible:

Active Mill Valley • Art Works for Change • Autistry Studios • Bay Area Air Quality Management District • Bellows Service • Bye Bye Mattress • California Sunlight • City of Mill Valley • Climate Reality Bay Area • County of Marin • Creekside Pizza & Taproom • Equator Coffees • Friends of Alto Tunnel • Good Earth Natural Foods • Green Change • Harvest Thermal • John Owens Services • Mad Dogs & Englishmen • Marin Citizens’ Climate Lobby • Marin City Climate Resilience • Marin Community Foundation  • Marin County Bicycle Coalition • Marin County Sustainability Team • Marin Water • MCE Clean Energy • Mill Valley Refuse Service • Mill Valley Recreation • Mill Valley Seniors for Peace • Mill Valley StreamKeepers • MVFREE • OFA Marin • Organic Cleaning Supreme • Outdoor Art Club • Pact • Play Marin • QuitCarbon • Resilient Neighborhoods • Rex Foundation • Ride and Drive Clean • Straus Family Creamery • Surfrider Foundation • Sustainable Marin • Sustainable Mill Valley • Sustainable San Rafael • 350 Marin • Transportation Authority of Marin • Vitality Bowls • Wastewater Treatment Agencies of Marin • WTB-TAM • World Wrapps • YardSmartMarin • Youth Action Through Art and more!

Thanks to all our partners for their generous support!

We invite you to visit their websites, where they can help you take action for a better world.