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The well-used planet we call home is about to have a few more footprints on it. However, they’re not stinky carbon footprints, but the footsteps of actual animals — or at least humans dressed like animals.

Yes, the annual Earth Day Fair & Parade will take place Saturday, a fun, educational excuse to dress up in animal costumes and honor the planet that has served as home to, uh, let’s see, oh yeah, everyone and everything ever.

Viewed that way, it’s hard to believe Earth Day is only 44 years old. Talk about a bunch of ingrates. You’d think we’d have at least gotten the Earth a thank-you card at some point, but it wasn’t until the late 1960s, after people saw photos of this little planet from the moon, that folks started to think about the Earth a little differently, according to Graydon Murphy, program and event coordinator for The Environmental Center, which will put on Saturday’s event.

“That’s when ecology started to become popular,” Murphy said.

Bend’s Earth Day festival and parade, celebrating its 25th year, draws some 2,000 spectators and participants to downtown Bend. This year’s parade gets underway at 11 a.m., but those lining up to march should assemble at 10:30 a.m. The parade starts at the intersection of Bond Street and Louisiana Avenue, travels north on Bond, west onto Minnesota Avenue, south on Wall Street and then east on Louisiana to head to the fair on Kansas Avenue.

You’ll want a costume of course. You can dress like your favorite critter — a gorilla would be cool, as would a kangaroo. Or a penguin! You know you’d make a great penguin. Crocodiles are pretty fearsome, especially tall ones that ambulate on two legs.

However, according to Murphy, “It can be anything. It doesn’t have to be an animal. (It can be) a mineral, water. Anything having to do with the Earth.”

If the Wonder Twins were real, they would have a field day with this parade.

There are just three rules for the parade, Murphy noted: no actual pet animals (that would be the Pet Parade on July 4), no motorized vehicles and no written words. No one wants to read your slogans, so save that for the bumper stickers.

The fair will be held in the front of The Environmental Center after the parade. A host of food vendors, nonprofits and other businesses and organizations will be on hand, as will two bands providing music: Wild Rye from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Broken Down Guitars from 1-3 p.m.

Murphy urges those who want to help the environment beyond walking in the parade to check out the center’s website, www.envirocenter.org. The site and its calendar is something of a hub for local environmentally related events and organizations.

“The theory behind Earth Day is that every ecosystem on Earth is interconnected, and all the species are interconnected,” Murphy said. “And that’s what people need to remember, that anything you do locally has a bigger effect on the whole planet.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0349, djasper@bendbulletin.com