Earth Day may still be a few days away, but that isn't stopping the City of Edmonton from spreading the message to families this weekend.
The Edmonton Earth Day Festival got underway Sunday at Fort Edmonton Park, with a message directed towards youth to put trash in its place. Organizers say that by getting through to youngsters, the also get their message through to adults.
"They take the message back to their families and their families do learn the message," said Karen Lewis-Caron with the City of Edmonton.
Mayor Stephen Mandel believes the approach works.
"If a parent throws something on the ground and a kid looks at him and gives him a dirty look, the parent pick it up and won't do it again," said Mandel.
Organizers also taught families about different ways they can reduce their waste and be more mindful of the environment.
"We could re-use stuff, not just cut down more trees to make more stuff," said Zamaan Hussein.
Hussien's father Ashif, says the experience opened up his eyes and made him think about the environment in a way he never had.
"We need to keep things much…better for the future generation," said Ashif Hussein.
This April 22nd marks the 40th Anniversary of the world-wide environmental movement which started in the United States. In Canada, the event has been celebrated since 1990 and has now been expanded to include Earth Week and Earth Month activities.
The City of Edmonton hopes their targeted message towards litter sparks some action.
"It's been proven that if you see someone picking up litter it discourages other people from dropping it," said Lewis.
The city is looking for volunteers for the Capital City Clean Up which gets underway next weeekend. To learn more click here.
With files from Sean Amato
