Whitley County Cooperative Extension handing out activity bags, trees for Earth Day 2020

Each year the University of Kentucky’s Whitley County Cooperative Extension office celebrates Earth Day by getting different materials into the hands of folks eager to do their part to improve and sustain the health of our planet.

Different items have been handed out over the years, but in 2020 several community partners have come together to offer fun learning and activity bags that include tools such as rain gauges, kitchen utensils, jump ropes, calendars, Fish & Wildlife Magazines, informational sheets, family activity guides and children’s books.

These bags were handed out Monday and Tuesday morning of this week beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the Cooperative Extension’s Goldbug location, and will be available again on Earth Day (Wednesday), as well as on Thursday and Friday, while supplies last. Each bag will also come with a tree that can be taken home and planted.

Extension Agent for Fine Arts Education, and Williamsburg native, Cortney Moses, said of this year’s Earth Day event, “Due to the circumstances, we’ve had to adapt. We have 150 bags, and we are giving away 30 a day in order to reduce crowd size.”

Moses said that Earth Day holds a very special meaning to here, adding, “We are dedicated to sustainability, and to educating people on the importance of that in as many ways as we can. We have to do what we have to do in order to save our planet, because if it isn’t here, none of this matters. We don’t have another home to go to.”

When asked about some specific areas that she would like to see improvements in, Moses mentioned the use of one-time plastic items as something that is becoming increasingly harmful to the environment.

For more information on this year’s Earth Day learning and activity bags and free trees, call the Whitley County Cooperative Extension at 606-549-1430. Bags are being limited to one per household, and contents may vary. The extension office will be operating on a first-come, first-serve basis.