ENCINITAS — Care about the environment? On June 8 you’ll have a chance to show it during the annual Encinitas Environment Day at Cottonwood Creek Park.
The free event, a chance to enjoy several activities in the park, will also serve to raise awareness this year on the theme of water conservation.
“Save Green by Saving Blue,” will resound throughout the day along with a breadth of other eco-friendly themes.
“We present a really broad range of subjects,” said Dave Ahlgren, the co-chair of this year’s Encinitas Environment Day.
And as for hosting the event at the park, Ahlgren said: “Cottonwood Creek Park is an amazing example of sustainability.
“It used to be this busy public works dump. You go back a little bit (1881), Cottonwood Creek was the water supply for the trains, and that’s why the train station is in Encinitas. And thanks to our environmentalists many years ago, the creek, which had been placed into a culvert, was day-lighted,” he said.
“They took out the culvert and restored the natural flow of the water and created a beautiful park,” Ahlgren added.
Community activists as Bob Nanninga and John Gjata, along with some other core people, helped get the event going back in 2007. This year will be the event’s eighth iteration.
“It’s had some ups and downs through the years, but there’s always a core group of dedicated people that jives…and particularly this year,” Ahlgren said.
Environmentalist Eve Simmons will serve as emcee this year, and the event is also collaborating with The Surfing Madonna Foundation.
Peder Norby, joining the event planning committee, along with the event sponsors look to integrate the more than 50 exhibitor booths with the activities going on and to get the community involved with environmentalism in the area.
“We’ve had this just wonderful community from Cardiff, a small town, to Leucadia, a really artsy community, to the backcountry of Olivenhain — just the blend of those diverse communities, I think gives us our environmental strength,” Ahlgren said.
Encinitas Environment Day is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cottonwood Creek Park, 95 Vulcan Ave.
