It’s time again for the monkeys, steelhead, volcanoes, cats big and small and more to take to the streets of Bend, as Saturday brings the Earth Day Fair and Parade — formerly called the Procession of the Species.

“It’s still in that same tradition, people of all ages will be dressing up as their favorite species or element of the Earth,” said Shauna Quistorff, communications and development director with the Environmental Center, which is hosting the event. “I always love to see volcanoes and lightning strikes and rainstorms.”

The parade is a chance for everyone to come out and celebrate the natural world, she said, and hasn’t changed too much since it started in 2000. People in costume — or even children towing their favorite stuffed animal — will meet starting at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in front of McMenamins Old St. Francis School on Bond Street, and at 11 a.m. will start proceeding through downtown.

The Earth Day Fair part of the day’s events is an even longer tradition, she noted, going back to 1990 in Bend. This year, it will be a street fair on Kansas Avenue in front of the Environmental Center, and will be bigger than before, with vendors, including those selling food, and lots of children’s activities, Quistorff said.

“All the education and information and activities are geared around the natural world and the environment, things that you’ll find and experience in nature,” she said.

The goal of the fair is to bring people out as part of the Earth Day festivities and let them reconnect with the environmental community and find out more about what’s happening to create a healthy and sustainable environment in Central Oregon, she said.

April is often the month when people start itching to get outside, she said.

“We start thinking about those things, and thinking about how important this incredible environment is to our quality of life,” Quistorff said.

She and others in the community shared some of their favorite tips for living in a more Earth-friendly and sustainable way.

For Quistorff, the big thing is to simply get outside and experience the environment people are working to protect.

“There’s so many things we think of — make sure you recycle, turn your heat down,” she said. “I think it’s equally important to just get outside, get outdoors, take a deep breath of fresh air and really enjoy nature.”

Here are some other tips for Earth-friendly living.

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For more information on Earth Day activities, see Friday’s GO!

M.L. Vidas, architect and green building consultant, Sustainable Design Services, Bend

• Central Oregon’s desert climate is perfect for using clotheslines to dry clothes instead of an energy-hogging dryer, said Vidas. Nine months of the year, a load of laundry will dry in just a couple hours, she said. And even in the winter, clothes will get mostly dry if you pick a sunny day — throw them in the dryer for 10 minutes, and they’re good to go, she said.

Tim Lillebo, Bend-based Eastern Oregon wildlands advocate with Oregon Wild

• Instead of driving or taking an RV somewhere for a vacation, go backpacking, Lillebo said. “You’ll save gas, you’ll reduce burning fossil fuels and help out with less carbon dioxide,” he said, adding that backpacking could help people stay in shape and lead a healthier life. And if people don’t feel like shouldering a pack and setting off for a hike, they could float a river, taking advantage of water and gravity to take them somewhere.

Matt Little, conservation director with the Oregon Natural Desert Association in Bend

• Spring, when the High Desert starts to blossom, is a beautiful time to get outside, Little said. People can go explore, and maybe help out by volunteering with a group that helps keep things wild.

“Join a group like ours, or get involved with a Friends group like Fobbits (Friends of Oregon Badlands Wilderness),” he said. “Get out in the field and pull some fence, plant trees, help restore streams for salmon. … There’s lots of opportunities to get out there.”

Pam Hardy, Central Oregon advocate for 1000 Friends of Oregon, Bend

• Looking for locally grown, organic food tops the list for Hardy. The organic part of the equation means that it helps prevent chemicals from going into the environment, and the local part means that it was able to skip multiple steps of packaging and shipping, saving on energy.

“You can just get so much more value, and on top of that, it means that your money stays here in our local economy,” she said.

Calen Jessee, general manager at Nature’s General Store, Bend

• Jessee would not only recommend buying organic — but buying in bulk, or buying fresh produce that doesn’t have packaging.

Doing so cuts down not only on individual packaging materials, but also on even bigger boxes that the packages come in, which the customer doesn’t see.

“It’s going to landfills, or using energy to recycle that down,” he said. Plus, with rising food costs, buying in bulk can be a cheaper option, Jessee said.

Betsy Warriner, executive director with Volunteer Connect in Bend

• There are basic living-green tips that Warriner tries to do in daily life, like picking up litter, walking as much as possible and conserving water. But her primary advice would be to look for and appreciate the big and little things in the environment.

“My favorite tip is gratitude, and noticing something about nature to be grateful for all of the time,” she said.

Brad Chalfant, executive director of the Deschutes Land Trust, Bend

• Chalfant’s favorite living-green tip — especially with the weather warming up — is to hop on a bike.

“It’s so easy to ride for so many people around here,” he said. Commuting by bike means exercise after a long day, Chalfant said, and also means that he doesn’t have to spend money on gas or put hydrocarbons into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.

Jim Fields, owner of Fields Farm, Bend

• The favorite advice that Fields gives is also the hardest thing for him to do. “To live simply really is very green, because it means consuming less,” Fields said. “It’s the hardest thing we do because everything around us says, ‘Buy, buy, buy, buy,’ and it’s really cool stuff.” Some of that cool stuff could help you live greener, he said. But consuming less means that there’s less produced and less materials used up. There’s so much surplus in our culture, he said, that people could buy clothes from the thrift store and be fine. “I never buy a shirt, except from the thrift store,” Fields said.

Larry Berrin, director of conservation education with Discover Your Northwest, Bend

• Berrin has been starting environmental education early with his 2-year-old daughter. The two manage the family’s compost pile together, he said. He gives her a toy rake and shovel, and they turn over the food and yard waste.

He eventually hopes to get across the idea of knowing where waste is going, and not just having it be “out of sight, out of mind,” he said.

“Right now, it’s probably just fun to go out with dad, and play with the dirt,” Berrin said.