Earth Day 2026 falls on Wednesday, April 22, and communities across Northern Colorado are marking the week around it with cleanups, service projects and family events that stretch from Fort Collins to Lafayette.
At Bluff Lake, volunteers will help clean up the site to keep it healthy for visitors and wildlife. Youth 8+ may attend with parental supervision, and trash bags, trash grabbers and gloves will be provided. Elsewhere, Girl Scout Troop 67603 will lead Earth Day service projects that include Indigenous vendors, dance performances, free seed bombs and nature-inspired crafts.
Odell Brewing is a new venue for one of the gatherings, where exhibitors, food trucks and kids’ activities will include an appearance by the CSU Bug Zoo. CSU student organizations and academic departments will also share tables with Fort Collins sustainability groups, giving attendees resources, activities and ways to get involved in local sustainability efforts.
The week’s schedule keeps widening. Volunteers will work on trail improvements and a restoration project that includes seeding, planting and weeding, with breakfast and lunch provided and a raffle planned. Mariposa’s 3rd Annual Earth Day Birthday party doubles as the neighborhood’s 42nd birthday celebration, with treats, a plant swap and experts offering house-plant advice. Mend Community Organization, which started in 2024, is also putting on a trash pickup, while several local environmental groups are coming together at the LINC Library Innovation Center for free indoor and outdoor events featuring crafts, stories, games, giveaways and hands-on learning.
Some of the activities come with limits that matter to anyone planning to show up. The Lafayette planting event, where participants will plant native plants, pull invasive plants and help local soils alongside the Open Space Division and Sustainability Department, requires registration and is reserved for Lafayette residents. The City of Lafayette free drop-off event is also for residents only and requires advance registration, with batteries, bubble wrap, fluorescent tubes and bulbs, paint, plastic shopping bags and household cleaning supplies accepted free of charge.
At Centennial Park, a family-friendly expo will feature a clothing swap, a bike drive, a community clean-up and a local farm stopping by with alpacas. Earth Week begins Saturday, April 18, and other events include free plant-based goodies, workshops and a cleanup of the St. Vrain River. In Thornton, participants will build birdhouses and bat boxes for placement around the city, with materials and tools provided and a registration deadline of Monday, April 20. Adams County’s second Earth Day Celebration will round out the list with an EV Ride and Drive, music, free food, air brush tattoos, educational exhibits and kids’ activities.
What stands out is how many of the events are practical rather than ceremonial: cleanup, planting, reuse and repair. That makes the answer to when is earth day less of a calendar note than a deadline for signing up, showing up and getting work done.
