Earth Day Houston takes place this week, highlighting the city’s efforts for a green and environmentally friendly Houston. The City of Houston kicked off day one of Earth Day HTX on Monday with an event highlighting the city's recycling efforts, water conservation programs, solar technology and more.
An environmental speaker series with 20 panel discussions involving local leaders and experts will take place on both Monday and Tuesday. They will discuss topics including solar energy, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, flooding, concrete batch plants and more.
The speaker series will follow-up with an outdoor festival outside City Hall on Wednesday. The festival will be interactive and hands-on with a range of activities such as a tiny house tour, a walk through a simulated forest, and the opportunity to drive and ride in an electric vehicle. Residents can enjoy food, music, giveaways, and special guests from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
"We have been a part of Earth Day events in the past, but have never directly hosted a spectacular event quite like this one that will truly showcase the city’s efforts towards cleaner, greener Houston," said Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Turner said the city has been working towards creating a cleaner environment.
"For the last seven years, I’ve worked to ensure that the city of Houston remains dedicated to becoming known as the preeminent climate change leader among US cities," he said. "We have made significant progress with our science based community driven climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gasses and our carbon footprint across the city – the successes resulting from these efforts are being realized and will be on full display at Earth Day HTX 2023."
The city wants to be carbon-neutral by 2050 as outlined in the city's Climate Action Plan. Officials said Houston is on track with its goal, planting over 1.2 million trees of its 4.6 million goal by 2030, purchasing electric vehicles for the city’s fleet and using renewable energy sources.
Priya Zachariah is the city's Chief Sustainability and Resilience Officer and said the city wanted to make a change after the effects of Hurricane Harvey.
"The reason that we have so much to talk about in our resilience and sustainability journey, it really begins with the mayor’s unifying vision and that call to action in the time following Harvey," she said. "And that transformative vision was that of a resilient Houston for all Houstonians, and all of Houston’s communities."
Zachariah said the city is continuing to strive towards its goal and has even gained recognition from different environmental groups.
All events are free to the public.
