Rock the Green Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Earth Day All Year-Long
Introduces New Sustainability and Education Opportunities Around Earth Year
In lieu of Milwaukee Riverkeeper's 25th Annual Spring Cleanup, we hope you'll take their pledge to (safely) help pick up trash on your next trip around the block. It’s easy. It feels good. It’s safe. But more importantly, it makes a difference. Use the hashtag #MeMyselfandDebris to share your cleanup stories! Take the pledge
Rock the Green’s 9th Annual Earth Day Celebration, originally planned to be held at the Harley-Davidson Museum on April 18, will be rescheduled to a later date. The Celebration is a free community event and a giant act of gratitude to the ~4,000 volunteers who partake in Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s Annual Spring Cleanup. Despite the postponement and cancellation of events and festivals around the world, unique and creative opportunities are emerging. Rock the Green, a 501c3 non-profit organization, will roll out new initiatives including the Future of Sustainability Podcast, South Pole’s Climate Leaders Forum and virtual eco-education.
Rock the Green’s Earth Day Celebration has been retooled and reorganized as Rock the Green’s Earth Year presented by Harley-Davidson honoring the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Throughout 2020, the sustainability-driven non-profit will host a series of eco-conscious and environmental educational happenings that align with its renewed mission. The concert lineup for the Annual Celebration that would have taken place in April is MAGIC GIANT, The Collection and Milwaukee’s own Lex Allen. Rock the Green is working with the bands to find a future date later this year.
​
“It’s clear to us all that we need healthy people for a healthy planet, so moving our Earth Day Celebration to a later date made all the sense in the world,” said Lindsay Stevens, Founder & Executive Director at Rock the Green. “In making a few changes, working together with Harley-Davidson and Molson Coors, we’re happy to have created several new and interesting ways of keeping our sustainability messages out there in our community.”
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Rock the Green is co-creating a new podcast featuring Milwaukee native and Futurist, thought leader, and producer of CRAVING THE FUTURE®, Michael Perman. Perman, CEO of the innovation firm C’EST WHAT? LLC, has innovated with brands such as Levi’s, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Gap, Adidas, Hyatt, REI, and Pottery Barn. The Future of Sustainability podcast will kick off in April with guests Rachel Schneider, of Harley-Davidson and Kim Marotta, Global Senior Director Sustainability and Enterprise Risk Management at Molson Coors. Speaking about what this podcast means, Perman said: “We are merging into societal shifts that will change the way we think about the intersection of people and planet. The future of sustainability is likely to be more holistic than ever.”
Rock the Green will also move the date for its South Pole Climate Leaders Forum at the Harley-Davidson Museum. Set to feature a panel of sustainability experts moderated by Nick Aster, of South Pole and founder of TriplePundit.com, the Forum will welcome Rachel Schneider, Kim Marotta and Ken Leinbach of the Urban Ecology Center. South Pole, headquartered in Zurich, is the world’s leading provider of climate solutions. The Climate Leaders Forum was created to give organizations a neutral platform to exchange experiences and ideas to be better equipped to accelerate and take climate action. Past Forums have taken place globally in London, Amsterdam, Sydney, Stockholm, Vienna and more.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Founded by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, Earth Day is special to Wisconsin. Nelson named April 22 a “national day for the environment.” The first Earth Day mobilized millions of Americans for the protection of the planet and is credited with launching the modern environmental movement and is recognized as the planet’s largest civic event.
To continue Celebrating the 50th anniversary, Rock the Green is collaborating with its partners like Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Urban Ecology Center, City of Milwaukee’s Environmental Collaboration Office, Milwaukee Water Commons, Teens Grow Greens, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, River Revitalization Foundation and many others to forge ahead with virtual eco-education, Rock The Green’s Earth Year is going to be 365 days of environmental celebrations!
Media contact: Dave Racine: dracine@punch-pr.com | 414.534.6948
​
INTERESTED IN BEING PART OF EARTH YEAR? CONTACT info@rockthegreen.com
"By merging entertainment and sustainable engagement, Rock the Green makes a positive impact on communities while establishing our city as an environmental leader. Our hope is that Rock the Green’s message isn’t for just one day of the year."
-Mayor Tom Barrett