Believe it or not, April is almost upon us. In honor of Earth Day, April 22, the April issue of Chicago Parent has a green theme, with several articles and columns dedicated to helping families be kinder to the environment. To tie into our green issue, Parents Know Best will feature several green products and events throughout the month that either help the environment, feature recycled or organic materials or help encourage a love of nature with your children.
Although we’re still firmly in March this weekend, I thought I’d kick off the green theme a little early by mentioning Earth Hour, taking place tomorrow (March 29) between 8 and 9 p.m. During this hour everyone is encouraged to turn off their lights as a symbol of the fight against global climate change. Several buildings in Chicago are participating, including the Sears Tower, which will shut off its broadcast tower lights, the John Hancock Tower, which will shut off as many non-essential lights as possible, and Navy Pier, which will turn off more than 20,000 decorative lights, including those on the Ferris wheel. Other participating corporations include Boeing, McDonald’s, Motorola, Northern Trust and Walgreens. So take an hour tomorrow night, light some candles and spend some environmentally-friendly time with your family.
Also this Saturday, Rock for Reading and Open Books is hosting a Sort-a-Thon to go through more than 15,000 children’s books to be donated to organizations and schools around Chicago. Although additional volunteers aren’t necessarily needed to sort the books, you can still practice the “reuse” part of the three “R’s” by donating books at this time. The event takes place at The Open Books Warehouse, 600 N. Albany Ave., Chicago, from 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. If you can’t make it down to the warehouse tomorrow, both Rock for Reading and Open Books take book donations throughout the year. Go to www.rockforreading.org or www.open-books.org for more information.
If you’re just not up for leaving the house this weekend, power up the computer (before or after Earth Hour, obviously) and go to www.firstbook.org/lithgow to help donate books another way. Cheerios, actor and children’s author John Lithgow and First Book are joining together for the Cheerios Book Donation Challenge. Just go to the Web site and answer trivia questions about various children’s books—for every correct answer you get a vote to submit to the state of your choice. The five states with the most votes by June 15 will each receive 20,000 books to be distributed to nonprofit groups that support children in need. So far Illinois is in the lead, so log on and keep those votes up!