Earth Month
Every year, Kirkland recognizes April as Earth Month to honor the value of our environment and natural spaces. The City, partner organizations, and community volunteers are offering many opportunities for the Kirkland community to contribute to our city's environment and learn about greener ways to live. Join us to celebrate Earth Month!
Take advantage of our green rebates
Upgrade your yard
Plant native landscaping, collect rainwater with a cistern, or add a raingarden to your yard with the Yard Smart Rain Rewards program. Make your garden more drought-resistant, prevent local flooding, and protect our creeks and Lake Washington from pollution.
Plant a tree for free
Use a rebate or pre-paid certificate to add a beautiful tree with cooling shade to your garden. Help keep Kirkland green while you beautify your garden and provide a home for local birds. Rebates up to $500 per property are available. Learn how you can get a tree rebate.
Attend an Earth Month event
Volunteer to restore natural areas
Volunteer with Green Kirkland Partnership at restoration events in parks and natural spaces in Kirkland. See the volunteer schedule and guidelines, and sign up at greenkirkland.org.
See where your recycling goes
On April 22, join WM for a virtual tour of the Cascade Recycling Center in Woodinville, where your recycling is sorted. Register online.
Learn to garden greener
Take a free gardening class with Cascade Water Alliance and garden smarter.
April 2: Make Your Garden Drought Resilient with Mulch
Last summer’s heat dome was a hard lesson on how quickly soil moisture can be depleted. Applying the right mulch material at the right time of year can make all the difference in capturing and retaining moisture. Learn how to put compost, leaf mold, and a variety of mulch materials to optimal use in your garden.
Sign up: https://cascadegardenerspringrserieschristinapheiffer.bpt.me
April 30: Weeds and Water: Wisdom for Resiliency
Join Jessi Bloom in this workshop which will increase your ecological literacy and make life living in your garden easier. She will cover two of the most important elements in land management and will share useful permaculture tools and solutions to increase your resiliency. You will gain a better understanding of how to effectively manage water on the land, and also learn easy peasy organic solutions to weed management.
Sign up: https://cascadegardenerspringseriesjessibloom.bpt.me
Get outside in nature
April 3: Tour Juanita Bay with an interpretive ranger
Learn about the many birds and animals who call Juanita Bay home. Children aged 6 and above, accompanied by an adult, are welcome. No registration required. See event details.
April 13: Bird walk at Juanita Bay Park
Join Eastside Audubon for an early morning walk through the park to see what birds are in the area. See event details.
April 22: Visit a State Park for free
Celebrate Earth Day by taking a walk at Bridle Trails State Park or St. Edward State Park in Kirkland (or any other Washington State Park) on this no-fee day!
April 23: Wetland Tour and Earth Day Open House
Visit an Earth Day Open House to tour a wetland, learn how to add a frog pond to your yard and host a Mason bee home, and more!
Over the past 10 years, community members, Earth Corps and King Conservation District (KCD) have worked to transform a blackberry infestation into a wildlife sanctuary. KCD’s Ashley Allen will lead a tour of the wetland with discussion about controlling invasive weeds, native plant selection, and other considerations related to planning and implementing restoration projects.
- 10:30 Seasonal pond demonstration
- 11:30 Learn about Mason bees
- 12 Wetland walk with King Conservation District
Hosted by Lake Washington Christian Church, an EnviroStars green organization, and King Conservation District.
See event details
May 7: Watershed Ecology Adult Field Trip Kirkland
Are you curious about local watersheds and ecology? Join us for a free outdoor field trip at Edith Moulton Park on Saturday, May 7.
A professional Educator from Nature Vision will teach the class session. We will explore local ecology, plants and wildlife, view aquatic insects, test water samples, discuss water as a shared resource, and learn ways that we can all keep our water abundant and healthy!
The class is limited to 30 adult participants, aged 18 and up, residents of Kirkland. Class details and registration.
Green your home
May 11 - The All Electric Home
Switching from natural gas to electric heat pumps for heating your home can dramatically reduce your personal carbon emissions, improve your comfort and indoor air quality and reduce utility bills. Find out how to electrify your home, what you should know about modern high efficiency electric solutions and how they compare to gas appliances. There will be a special emphasis on ductless and ducted heat pumps. Presented by volunteer organization Electrify Now and King County Library System (KCLS).
Register for the event on the KCLS website.
Support a community initiative
Stop idling while you wait
Did you know that idling for ten seconds uses more gas than restarting? Turning your engine off instead of idling keeps our air cleaner and community healthier, is better for your engine, and saves you gas money. Kirkland community members are leading a campaign to encourage drivers to turn it off.
Consider the places you leave your car running while you're not driving: picking the kids up from school, getting takeout, dropping off packages, waiting in drive-thrus? Pick one place to practice turning your car off while you wait.
Email community volunteers Susan and Judy to request a presentation about idling for your organization or group, or to volunteer to help spread the word.
Celebrate salmon with art
On April 2, the community is painting a mural to celebrate salmon at Spud Fish and Chips, near Juanita Creek. The goal of the Save Our Salmon Mural is to raise awareness for salmon sustainability in Juanita Creek and other North Lake Washington creeks. The project is a partnership between young artist Austin Picinich and the University of Washington’s North Lake Washington SalmonWatchers program.
Volunteer painting spots are full, but the community is invited to come and share in the festivities, check out the mural progress, and learn more about the SalmonWatchers program. Learn more, and support the project, at the Save Our Salmon Mural webpage.
Learn about sustainability in Kirkland
Kirkland's Sustainability Master Plan identifies steps that the City and community can take to make Kirkland's future sustainable for the environment, the economy, and equity. Learn what the City is doing to build infrastructure and offer programs making it easier for residents to live sustainably. The City will be providing its first annual update on the Sustainability Master Plan at the April 19th City Council meeting.
Find ways you can help our community meet its environmental goals — we can't do it without help from our residents and businesses!