April is Earth Month as well as National Poetry Month. During the month, in addition to several Earth Day clean up events listed below, poetry and Earth Day will converge with a Virtual Earth Day Celebration presented by Notable Works starting at 7 pm on April 22.

Poets from around the state will share words of hope and solace found in nature, address the issue of climate change, speak of recycling and advocate for our planet in poetic verse. 

Poetry and spoken word has come into its own in recent months thanks to the wonderful inaugural poem by Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb.”  In this poem she addresses race and unity and offers hope.  You can pre-order her book, “The Hill we Climb and Other Poems” at Stillwater Books in Pawtucket.

One of the featured poets in the Notable Works event, Sarah Lettes, raises the issue of our quest for more in her poem “More.”  In her poem she references: 

a wishlist for more things, then coming to a realization of what we have done, she takes back the wishlist and starts a list of hopes, and establishes a new wish list for more protections for nature and helping hands for our most vulnerable communities.  

You will have to tune in to hear her read this poem.  More Info.  If you cannot tune in to the event,  the poems are published in the book Voices of the Earth; The Future of Our Planet II. This book also includes a reference list of Rhode Island Environmental Agencies including BVTC and Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful and is also available at Stillwater Books and other local bookstores.

Our colleague, Donna Kaehler, Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful (KBVB) Director, may not be a poet, but she writes and speaks with passion when talking about reducing litter and Earth Day. We are pleased to share some of her tips and thoughts here from the recent KBVB newsletter: 

Excerpt from KBVB Newsletter – 

Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful (KAB), takes part yearly in KAB’s Great American Cleanup. Each year all participating cleanups get tallied nationally at KAB and now also internationally for the Great Global Clean Up at Earth Day.org.

Your help locally with cleanups is part of a bigger, greater effort. What we do here in Rhode Island truly matters to the health of our whole world.

Make this year the year you take part and make a difference. You’ll be surprised how even what you consider a small effort, can add up to big results when we all join in.

• Pick up ONE piece of litter. Every piece really matters. If we leave even one piece on our streets, it ends up traveling into trees, brush, waterways and even our oceans where it becomes very hard, and even impossible, to ever remove.

• Spread out a little more & pick up all the litter on your property. Unfortunately we see litter by mailboxes, driveways or along homeowners’ properties, and for some reason that litter is there for months, or even longer. Cleaning just your property will tackle a huge amount of miles in our communities, and your property will look great!

• Adopt that empty lot near your property. Often litter never gets removed from these random disconnected vacant spots, unless someone like you comes along.

• Join a clean up or host one of your own. Many events are scheduled for the Earth Day season, see below. Join one, but let’s not stop there.  Read More

We also would like to share the wonderful poster artwork from the youth at Riverzedge Arts in Woonsocket in the featured image. Stay tuned for KBVB’s Earth Month Poster Campaign. 

Upcoming KBVB Earth Day Events.

• April 24 @ 9:00 am  – Butterfly Garden Clean Up at Chase Farm 
• April 27 @ 5:30 – 7:00 pm – Tree Hugger Tuesday (Panera Bread) Route 116 & 123 Lincoln
• During the month of April – KBVB 2nd Individual Plogging Event. What is plogging, you may ask? It  is a combination of picking up litter while jogging. The word is derived from the Swedish verb plogga which combines plocka (to pick up) and jogga (jog).  

Visit KBVB for more info or to register                  More Earth Day Events

So whether you are plogging or tree hugging – perhaps you will be inspired to write some poetry – please share with us if you do #blackstonevalleyri or email info@tourblackstone.com.

By the way, have you seen the litter messaging on the highway? KBVB asked DOT if they could do a don’t litter campaign for Earth Day. They said yes and are doing a whole campaign.  Here is one of the messages.