 | IN THIS EDITION:
Festival Updates * St. Louis City Recycling Updates * Senate Bill 1586 Updates * Green Dining Alliance | | | | | | UPDATES: St. Louis Earth Day Festival | | | | | | | | LAST CALL: Vendor Registration Vendors, this is your final reminder to register by March 15! Secure your spot and be part of this magical weekend with the opportunity to engage with thousands of people who share your business or organization's values. We already have 130+ vendors signed up! NEW FOR 2026: While earthday365 has always maintained a high standard of sustainability for our vendors, this year we’re taking our requirements a step further: all vendors must only use compostable packaging and be 100% completely free of oil-based plastics. See more information and apply below. | | | | | Volunteers Needed! Volunteers keep the Festival running smoothly, and it's a fun way for kids and young adults to fill up those community service hours. Lend a hand and be treated to a meal during your shift, a free volunteer t-shirt with our awesome new poster art (if you register by March 25th), and a volunteer party in May!
Activities may include, but are not limited to: moving tables/chairs, setting up barricades, picnic tables and traffic signage, vendor unloading/set-up assistance, and placing recycling bins throughout the Festival footprint. Please register below! | | | | | | | | Become a Sponsor! We are currently seeking sponsors that share our Earth Day values. Support the St. Louis Earth Day Festival to access a platform of 20,000 attendees and over 11 million impressions. Get your business' name on our striking poster, earn high visibility for your brand, and help make this community event possible. Customized packages are available. Please see below for more information! | | | | | Donate Items to our Earth Day Festival Silent Auction! After being met with overwhelming success last year, earthday365 is hosting a virtual silent auction again to help keep future Festivals free. Contact our Community Outreach Manager at elizabeth@earthday-365.org to donate an item and support our mission! Your support is sincerely appreciated. | | | | | | NEW: Art Installations by Adrienne Outlaw | | | | We are thrilled to introduce Adrienne Outlaw as a featured artist at the 2026 St. Louis Earth Day Festival! She will present Double Bloom, an immersive installation of two large geodesic domes clad in community-collected post-consumer plastic. Throughout the weekend in Forest Park, the domes will serve as interactive spaces for activities like singing and yoga, inviting festival-goers to experience art built from reclaimed materials. In conjunction with the installation, Outlaw is also hosting a limited-time fundraiser, donating 50% of proceeds from all art prints through April 26 to support our programs. Prints are available below and will also be on exhibition at Egg from March 17-April 30, located at 3100 Locust Street in Midtown. Check it out! | | | | | | | | 5th Annual Sustainability Awards: NOMINATIONS CLOSE 3/31 | |  | Is there a community leader whose environmental efforts have inspired you? Nominate them for our annual Sustainability Awards, in which they have a chance to be recognized on the Main Stage at our St. Louis Earth Day Festival. Award categories are listed below: - Hellbender Award: Celebrates an individual who is a longtime driving force of the environmental movement in St. Louis.
- Keystone Community Activist ($500 prize): Recognizes the work of a community activist making significant impacts in the area of environmental justice in St. Louis communities of color.
- Food For Thought (free GDA recertification prize): Recognizes a Green Dining Alliance certified restaurant that has consistently increased their impact around sustainable measures or continued success in their journey to be a leader in their community to promote sustainability as a core value in their business.
- Circularity in Business: Recognizes the commitment of a business in the St. Louis region that has made outstanding efforts to reduce waste and promote a circular economy.
- Emerging Environmental Leader ($500 prize): Recognizes a leader whose professional or volunteer actions in the past year have inspired action and spread awareness for sustainable change in the St. Louis area.
The deadline for nominations is March 31. Submit yours below before you forget! | | | | | | | | Proud sponsor Companion Baking brings a deep commitment to sustainability to every loaf it bakes—from supporting regenerative agriculture and more responsibly grown wheat to giving back through membership in 1% for the Planet. That same care guides its operations: since 2017, Companion has cut landfill waste by nearly 93% through composting, recycling, and reducing excess materials, including single-use plastics — proving that thoughtful baking can make a meaningful difference for our planet. | | | | | | Recycling Task Force Update! | |  | What’s going to happen with St. Louis City recycling? Here’s an update on the Recycling Task Force, a group of volunteer recycling experts, city officials, and concerned residents working to research and propose practical solutions — including our Executive Director, Dr. Jessica Watson! The Task Force has held several meetings and feels hopeful about the progress made thus far: - Researched best practices for recycling in other cities across the nation, such as Chicago, Baltimore, Austin, and Philadelphia, and met with officials from some of those cities to learn more.
- Met with potential funders who could help us revitalize our waste system.
- Researched how to improve the processes for all waste systems including trash, green waste, bulk pickup, and illegal dumping.
- Discussed how we can build back the trust in our waste systems via outreach and education.
Next step: We plan to bring a draft report to the Mayor’s office in April. Recycling drop-off sites have reduced contamination, but they aren't working for everyone. We must adapt practical solutions that make recycling convenient and accessible for all while also improving recycling rates and efficiency. Our goal is to build a better system, show that it works, and make people feel like they’re actually making a difference when they’re recycling. We will continue to meet and provide everyone updates. Stay tuned! | | | | | | Update on Senate Bill 1586 | | We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who testified and shared your stance on Senate Bill 1586 to committee members last month. We want you all to know you made a major impact for environmental organizations statewide, and that our collective voices were heard. Currently, the bill is still in committee, and we will continue to provide updates as the situation progresses. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | earthday365
4125 Humphrey St | Saint Louis, Missouri 63116
314.282.7533 | info@earthday-365.org | | | | | | | | | | | |
