Earth Day weekend brings healthy planet advocates to Durham

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- There's usually a crowd gathered at Durham Central Park on Saturdays. This year, with Earth Day also occurring Saturday, environmental stewards, advocates and those who enjoy spending time outdoors hung out in the park on Sunday as well for the Bull City's Earth Day Festival.

John Tallmadge of Bike Durham told ABC11 about the work his group's doing to encourage greener transportation options.

"We organized the first sustainable transportation expo, to go along with the Earth Day festival," he said. "There's also opportunities for kids to ride bikes and get experience with these modes of transportation that they might not be familiar with."

The different modes include an all-electric Go Durham bus, parked where people could look it over.

Madeline James of Durham's Museum of Life and Science is encouraged by the families who stopped by their area to learn more about sustainable living and outdoor play options.

"Senior citizens and adults with no kids with them came up, played with us and got really excited trying to build boats out of bark, and rocks," she said. "Once you start doing it it's very joyful play, it's hard to stop!"

James encourages those concerned about climate change and its effects to go beyond solutions like eating more sustainable meals, driving less and other planet saving options.

"What are some environmental organizations that you can get aligned with? How can you volunteer to help fight climate change and move society forward together? So rather than focus on your negative impact, think about those ripple effects and the positive impact you can have," James said.

ABC11's weekday morning meteorologist Kweilyn Murphy was an MC on Sunday, and also shared tips about keeping the Earth healthy while rapid growth takes a toll on local green spaces.