The Silver Lake Earth Day Ball won't be rolling home anytime soon

The highlight of last year’s Silver Lake Earth Day Celebration was a giant ball created out of 7,000 plastic bags, which represented the number of bags neighborhood businesses had pledged to not use in favor of more eco-friendly alternatives. The Silver Lake Earth Day Ball – the creation of a group called Sustainable Silver Lake – didn’t stand still for too long, however. Other environmental groups, including Heal the Bay, rolled the ball to other events and collected more bags along the way. By December, the ball had grown to about 40,000 bags, according to one account. Sustainable Silver Lake member Cheryl Revkin said the plan was to eventually get the ball back. But that’s not going to happen since the Silver Lake Earth Day Ball now sits in a warehouse in preparation for installation in an exhibit at the California Science Center in Exposition Park. “We hoped to get the ball back to make an appearance, ” Revkin said. “It somehow got taken away from us.”

Revkin, however, is not complaining. She and other members of Sustainable Silver Lake have organized an Earth Day celebration on Thursday called a “Promise for the Planet,” which will feature public pledges by Silver Lake residents about eco-friendly practices they plan to adopt over the next year. While the Silver Lake Earth Ball remains in storage, something called “The Bag Monster” is scheduled to make an appearance, Revkin said.

After Earth Day is over, Sustainable Silver Lake, which grew out of the Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce’s Green Committee, will continue to hold monthly lectures and other events.

Photo from AllShadesofGreen.com