For Scarborough — like many communities throughout Maine — sustainability isn’t just for Earth Day, it’s a commitment all year long.

The Scarborough Public Library embraces that commitment — it has EV chargers for cars, solar panels on the roof, a water fountain to cut down on water bottle use, and e-bikes, said Elsa Rowe, community engagement manager at the library.

For Earth Day, on April 22, the library will have flower arrangements made by the Scarborough Garden Club based on their favorite books, a plant and seed swap event, a speaker talking about lichen and a book swap, among other events throughout the week. And the library will continue hosting more sustainability and nature-themed events — like a gleaning table and a swap shop — during the summer and throughout the year.

But you don’t have to live in Scarborough to celebrate the Earth. Communities across southern Maine are hosting clean up event, fairs and other celebrations this weekend and next week for Earth Day. Here are some activities you can check out:

WESTBROOK

In the summer of 2024, Westbrook resident Simon Snyder reached out to Mayor David Morse about hosting an Earth Day event in the city, because there hadn’t been one for several years. Snyder then got in contact with Lynn Leavitt, of the public works department, and they organized the city’s Earth Day Fair in 2025.

Snyder is bringing back the fair this year at Riverbank Park on Main Street in Westbrook from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.

There will be a performance by the Maine Youth Circus, music, giveaways, informational tables, a Casella Touch-A-Truck and games. Mihku Paul, a Wolastoqey educator and cultural knowledge-keeper, will present a STEM learning game.

The goal of the fair is to “get as much joy as we can get out of getting together and recognizing the positive energy between music and circus and storytelling and being in a park,” Snyder said.

He said he hopes the event will get children to feel good about celebrating and respecting the earth, because the future of the planet is in the hands of their generation.

PORTLAND

Visit the Portland Farmers’ Market — which is returning outdoors on Saturday, April 18 — in Deering Oaks Park before heading to Portland’s free and family-friendly Earth Day Celebration in the same park by the bandstand.

The city’s fourth annual Earth Day celebration takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be live music by a local band, face painting, seed bombs and local food trucks. You can also learn about local climate initiatives, mend your clothes, repair your bike, learn to compost and plant wildflowers.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Over 40 eco-focused community groups will be offering activities for people of all ages at South Portland’s second annual Earth Day Resource Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, at Mill Creek Park.

You can attend for free to hear live music, contribute to a mural, visit Maine animals, eat from food trucks and enter a raffle. News Center Maine meteorologist Dana Osgood and Mayor Elyse Tipton will speak, and you can also help clean up the city and learn about climate initiatives and living sustainably.

CAPE ELIZABETH

If you already have Earth Day and weekend plans, you can still participate in the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust’s sixth annual Earth Day Community Clean Up, which runs from Saturday, April 18, to Sunday, April 26. You can sign up and pick up trash any time during the week, after getting your bags and gloves from the CELT office at 330 Ocean House Road or bringing your own supplies.

Contact (207) 767-6054 or [email protected] with any questions.

SCARBOROUGH

After you check out the activities at the Scarborough Public Library, head to the Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center at 92 Pine Point Road to help clean up the town’s marsh and beaches from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 25.

The cleanup event is sponsored by the Scarborough Land Trust, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Scarborough community. There will be refreshments, and participants can provide food that will be collected for Project Grace.

Maine Audubon recommends dressing in layers as the marsh can be cool and wearing shoes that can get muddy and wet.

OLD ORCHARD BEACH

If you’re looking to enjoy a nice walk on the beach while helping the environment, you can join the Maine Conservation Alliance and Blue Ocean Society for Maine Conservation for a beach cleanup at Old Orchard Beach.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday, April 18. There will be free parking at the Milliken Street Parking lot (76-98 Milliken St. in Old Orchard Beach), which is a 0.5-mile walk north of the beach where participants will meet in front of Palace Playland. Check-in time is 9:45-10 a.m.

Snacks will be provided, but you must bring your own gloves and water. A naturalist from the Maine Audubon will talk about plovers and there will be a fun raffle as well. Register online.

BIDDEFORD

Multiple city departments and local organizations are teaming up for Biddeford’s annual Earth Day Parks and Trails Clean Up event from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, April 22. People of all ages and abilities are welcome.

Participants can meet at the J. Richard Martin Community Center (located 189 Alfred St. No. 1 in Biddeford) at 8 a.m. for breakfast, followed by announcements and a group photo, and then everyone will head to their assigned park locations at 9 a.m.

Bring work gloves, rakes, shovels and hand tools, but bags will be provided. You can rake, weed, trim trees and pick up trash, but children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

WELLS

“We’re committed to the Earth throughout the year,” Rachel McDonald, marketing and communications director of the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, said. But Earth Day specifically is an opportunity to help the community to reengage with environmental stewardship and sustainability.

To promote those values and encourage the community to come together, the Wells Reserve is hosting a beach cleanup at Laudholm Beach from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, April 22, followed by various Earth Day activities at the Laudholm campus, including a pollinator scavenger hunt, seed planting with Maine Master Gardeners, leaf printing and Earth pledge from noon to 2 p.m.

The main attraction will be “Within the Whale,” an immersive experience where visitors can go inside a life-size, inflatable humpback whale from 1-2 p.m. The reserve is located at 342 Laudholm Farm Road in Wells.

YORK

On Saturday, April 25, the Center for Wildlife invites visitors for a family-friendly Earth Day celebration. Tickets cost $10 for the event that runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Some of the activities include making Earth-friendly crafts like a recycled water bottle planter, going on a guided spring birds and nature walk through the center’s woodland and wetland trails, meeting animals, and becoming a vernal pool detective to discover the puddles where frogs and salamanders live.

The Center for Wildlife is located at 375 Mountain Road in Cape Neddick.