[photo credit: First United Methodist Church of Pasadena]
The event, themed “The Canopy of Creation,” takes place three days before the official Earth Day observance on Wednesday, April 22, and will include information on sustainability practices, children’s activities, and plant-based food, according to a church announcement.
Among the exhibitors are several organizations with direct ties to Pasadena and Altadena. My Zero Waste Store, a refill shop at 25 S. El Molino Ave. in Pasadena that was founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, will participate, as will the Sierra Club’s Pasadena Group, which covers members across the greater Pasadena area including Altadena, Arcadia, and Sierra Madre.
Pasadena 100, a coalition of approximately 22 local nonprofit organizations that has advocated for Pasadena’s municipal utility to achieve 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2030, is also listed as an exhibitor. The Pasadena City Council unanimously adopted that clean energy goal in January 2023 after the coalition collected more than 1,300 postcards from residents.
Altadena Green, a grassroots organization of volunteer arborists and landscape professionals formed after the January 2025 Eaton Fire, will be at the event as well. The group has focused on preserving and restoring Altadena’s tree canopy, which multiple estimates place at 50 to 70 percent destroyed by the fire. The organization intervened to prevent the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from removing fire-damaged trees that local arborists assessed as recoverable during the debris cleanup process.
The event theme carries particular resonance given Altadena Green’s mission. Before the Eaton Fire, some Altadena neighborhoods had tree canopy coverage as high as 49 percent, according to Amigos de los Rios, a nonprofit that has worked alongside Altadena Green on recovery efforts.
The LA County Youth Climate Commission, a 25-member body of young people established by the Board of Supervisors in 2022 to advise the county on climate policy, is also among the exhibitors.
The church’s Earth Day celebration follows a similar event the congregation held in April 2024 titled “One New Habit to Help Our Planet,” which also featured My Zero Waste Store among its participants.
First United Methodist Church has been part of the Pasadena community since 1874 and occupies a neo-gothic building on Colorado Boulevard that was completed in 1924.
The event includes a Blessing of the Animals, a tradition in many Christian denominations that draws on the legacy of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment.
Admission is free. For more information, call 626-796-0157.
Event details in this article are based on an announcement from First United Methodist Church of Pasadena.
