Officials, activists say we should be thinking about Earth Day 365 days a year

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Tuesday, April 22nd marked the United States' 44th "Earth Day" -- and there were events across the Milwaukee area -- with many doing their part to make where we live more beautiful and more sustainable.

The City of Milwaukee's Office of Environmental Sustainability and Rock the Green hosted the third annual Milwaukee Earth Day Celebration on Tuesday in downtown Milwaukee.

There, city officials discussed Milwaukee's sustainability efforts and the city's 10-year sustainability plan.

The event featured live music and a bicycle pedal-powered stage!

"We incorporate near-zero waste efforts into the event and we show people you can come out and and have a great day and not have a huge impact," Lindsay Stevens Gardner with Rock the Green said.

People had the opportunity to browse eco-friendly products and learn about Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's "Refresh Milwaukee" plan.

Marsha Vila and others stood on the corner holding signs that encourage folks to do their part to stop global warming.

"Hopefully to raise some consciousness about -- sombody might even say 'what's global warming,' or 'what's fracking' or 'what's the pipeline?'" Vila said.

Earth Day, sustainability and global warming are issues officials and activists say we need to be concerned about 365 days a year.

In Brown Deer, FOX6 News caught some folks doing their part on Earth Day -- picking up garbage.

Employees from Thermo Scientific were given the morning Tuesday to walk Brown Deer's business park picking up trash.

"If you don't have time when you're consciously thinking about it, it's easy to let it slip to the back of your mind. So if somebody doesn't do something who will?" Mike Matter said.

Also in the works is the city of Milwaukee's "Home Grown" initiative -- to turn abandoned homes into green space and community gardens.

That is just one of a number of topics discussed in Milwaukee on Earth Day.