Tasha Does Tulsa.

It’s Earth Month, and with T-Town being a city that’s increasingly eco-conscious, there are plenty of free and kid-friendly Earth Day activities to dive into around town.

From a party at Tulsa Zoo to recycling classes at the library to a film festival at Circle Cinema, here’s a list of ways to have fun and show the environment some love at the same time, all right here in Tulsa.

Earth Day/Month Events in Tulsa

22nd Annual Herbal Affair & Festival
When: Saturday, April 16, 9am-4pm
Where: Downtown Sand Springs
Get more than 90 vendors or herbs and more, arts and crafts, lectures, live entertainment and plenty for the kids to do at this kick-off of the Tulsa area’s spring and summer festival season.

Party for the Planet
When: Saturday, April 16, 9-5pm
Where: Tulsa Zoo & Living Museum, 6421 E. 36th Street North
Celebrate our planet at Tulsa Zoo with music, green-themed activities for kids, a Green Market featuring earth-friendly vendors and more. Don’t miss the Discovery STOMPS across the zoo to learn how you can make a difference for animals across the globe, like rhinos and monkeys, by acting locally. Learn how to make your own compost and how to make recycling a cinch. Plus, the folks at Tulsa Zoo are still celebrating APE-ril, so be sure to cruise down Ape Avenue to do a little monkeying around and test your ape aptitude. Bring an old cell phone to recycle and get half off the price of admission the day of Party for the Planet (one discount per phone). Every phone donated not only saves the planet, but also benefits your Zoo.

Earth Month Festival @ Whole Foods
When: Saturday, April 16, 11am-3pm
Where: Whole Foods Market Tulsa, 1401 E. 41st Street
Celebrate Earth Month with and teach the kids a thing or two about going green with the folks at Whole Foods Market Tulsa with giveaways, classes and vendors ready to shove your hands and mouths full of samples locally grown fare. Anita Boykins will be on hand for a recycled art class from 11am-12pm, Sharon Stroud will teach how to green your cleaning routine at 1pm. Also available will be composting classes, a silent auction for a rain barrel painted by local artist Jennifer Hanley and the folks from EcoGreen Mobile Detailing, Sustainable Green Country, Jim Norton Toyota, The Hub, Greenstar and HOPE.

Recycling 101 with the Green Team at Tulsa City-County Library
When: Saturday, April 16, 2pm
Where: Nathan Hale Library, 6038 East 23rd Street
Recycling is a great way to keep valuable resources out of our overcrowded landfills, but the ins and outs of this complicated process can be confusing. Come to any of the Recycling 101 classes at Tulsa City-County Library and learn how to recycle the right way from a certified Tulsa Master Recycler. Easy, peasy, free. Yes.

The Secret is in the Soil: Part of the Green Team’s Urban Homesteading Series
When: Saturday, April 16, 10am
Where: Zarrow Regional Library, 2224 W. 51st Street
Sue Gray from OSU Extension is back to discuss composting, mulching, and how to grow your own vegetables in any soil. Bring the seeds you won’t be planting this year to our 2nd annual seed swap after the presentation.

H2O Film Festival
When: Starting Sunday, April 17, and running through Saturday, April 23
Where: Circle Cinema, 12 S. Lewis Ave.
Three Tulsa organizations have come together through their shared concern for clean water in Oklahoma, specifically with the watersheds in Oklahoma and the problems that pollution causes both the health of Oklahomans and the economy of our state. The goal of the festival, which will feature a collection of films and animated shorts over the week of April 17, will be to educate Oklahomans about important water issues in our state as well as in locales around the world, and to create a guide through which the audience can protect our water. For a complete schedule of films, visit CircleCinema.com.

Book and More: Earth Day
When: Monday, April 18, 3:30pm
Where: Schusterman-Benson Library, 3333 East 32nd Place
Celebrate Earth Day at Schusterman-Benson Library by creating a robot from recycled materials. This event is for ages 5-12.

Green Fest
When: Tuesday, April 19, 11am-2pm
Where: Mary K. Chapman Health Plaza, 1819 E. 19th Street in Tulsa
The Green Team Committee at St. John Medical Center will host its third-annual Green Fest to celebrate Earth Day 2011, featuring exhibitors from various organizations across the state that promote greener living and more environmentally-conscious practices.

Tree Treasures
When: Wednesday, April 20, 4pm
Where: Hardesty Regional Library, 8316 East 93rd Street
Celebrate Arbor Day at Hardesty Regional Library library with Christina Stallings from the Oklahoma Forestry Services. Learn interesting facts about trees and create a fun tree craft. This event is for ages 3-10.

Earth Day with the Tulsa Drillers
When: Thursday, April 21, 7:05pm
Where: ONEOK Field, 201 N. Elgin Ave.
The first 1,000 fans through the gate get a reusable tote as well as an environmental fair on the plaza at the Tulsa Drillers Earth Day celebration. Plus, it’ll be Thirsty Thursday, which means beer and soft drinks will be available for $1 each.

Earth Day at Chandler Park Community Center
When: Friday, April 22, 1-am-2pm
Where: Chandler Park Community Center, 6500 West 21st Street in west Tulsa
Service projects providing tangible benefits to the west side, educational workshops from OSU Extension, hands-on exhibits, rock-painting contest, games and guest speakers.

Earth Day with Cherry Street Farmers’ Market and Up With Trees
When: Saturday, April 23, 7-11am
Where: Cherry Street Farmers’ Market, on 15th (Cherry) Street, just east of Peoria
Do your shopping and celebrate Earth Day at the same time at Cherry Street Farmers’ Market this morning. Stop by the market booth to check out the free seedlings and tree and environmental conservation info from Up With Trees while you’re there.

Jenks Herb & Plant Festival
When: Saturday, April 23, 8am-5pm
Where: Jenks Downtown Main Street, from First through Third Streets
The 15th annual Jenks Herb & Plant Festival will be a celebration of all things gardening, packing activities for every member of the family, young and old. More than 100 booths will overflow with a variety of plants, and Creek County Master Gardeners will be available to answer questions. Look also for festival foods, a children’s area full of activities, Garden Railroads for kids of all ages, a full festival stage for around-the-clock entertainment and speakers. It’s all free and open to the public.

earth PicNic: To Honor the Mother
When: Saturday, April 23, 4-11pm
Where: ParBUSTer Trapeze Park, 1209 E. 3rd Street
The public is invited to attend this free event and bring a picnic lunch, share food with friends and enjoy the flying trapeze artists as Living Arts Dance Committee members, Spoken Word artists, and earth artists create site-specific artworks. Area green advocates will be around letting people know about recycling options for Tulsans, too. Organic gardening and small grocers will promote buying local. Admission is free and open to the public.

Recycling 101 with the Green Team at Tulsa City-County Library
When: Tuesday, April 26, 6pm
Where: Martin Regional Library, 2601 South Garnett Road
Recycling is a great way to keep valuable resources out of our overcrowded landfills, but the ins and outs of this complicated process can be confusing. Come to any of the Recycling 101 classes at Tulsa City-County Library and learn how to recycle the right way from a certified Tulsa Master Recycler. Easy, peasy, free. Yes.

Reuse, Recycle, Remix: Special Family Event @ Philbrook
When: Saturday, April 30, 2pm
Where: Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S. Rockford Ave.
What some may view as trash, an artist sees as treasure. Celebrate Earth month with Julia Lupton, co-author of the popular D.I.Y. Kids book. In a brief talk, Lupton will highlight some of the cool art projects you can make simply by using a few unusual objects – cereal boxes, ketchup packets, marshmallows – and your imagination. After, you’ll head to the studios where you can make art using recycled materials.

More Earth Day Resources in Tulsa

• City of Tulsa Free Landfill Days. Looking to unload some unwanted items before Earth Day? Do it safely on Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17, from 7am-3pm, as part of the Free Landfill Days via the City of Tulsa and the Quarry Landfill at 4041 N. 141st E. Avenue. Open to City of Tulsa residents. Proof of residency required. Check out this page on the City of Tulsa’s website for rules and further details.
• Advanced Metal Recycling is seeking 60,000 lbs. of aluminum cans to form the basis of a $5,000 Earth Day donation to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. AMR will pay customers who bring in cans on Friday, April 22nd or Saturday, April 23rd $0.85 per pound (about 20% more than the usual “Earth Day Special” rate and about double the going everyday rate), plus another $0.05 per pound toward the food bank donation. AMR will also sell Earth Day t-shirts, with all the proceeds going toward the food bank. Plus, from 11am to 2pm on Friday the 22nd, visitors to AMR’s North Lewis facility in Tulsa will be treated to free hot dogs and sodas, too. Check out the AMR site for further details and specifics on locations.
• A list of Tulsa-area Farmers Markets.
• Sustainable Tulsa’s Tulsa Area Green Directory
• The Metropolitan Environmental Trust (M.E.T.)

Don’t see your favorite Earth Day/Month event on this list?

No problem. Send me an e-mail with details and I’ll check it out.