City of Sonoma Launches Inaugural Earth Day at the Sonoma Community Center’s Annual Trash Bash Event
Sonoma, California. The Sonoma Community Center, in partnership with the City of Sonoma, invites the community to a special joint celebration on Saturday, April 25, bringing together the beloved Trash Bash event and the City’s Inaugural Earth Day. The free community gathering will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Center, 276 East Napa Street in Sonoma.
The event marks the culmination of the annual Trashion Fashion season, with Trash Bash offering attendees the rare opportunity to view the spectacular Trashion Runway Show designs up close and meet the innovative designers behind them. Guests can learn firsthand how reclaimed materials are transformed into imaginative works of wearable art.
This year’s celebration will also feature the City’s Inaugural Earth Day event, which will add sustainability-focused programming and community engagement opportunities throughout the day.
Attendees will be able to connect with Sonoma County waste management organizations, explore booths from local sustainability-focused organizations and businesses, and shop with upcycling artists who are reimagining materials that might otherwise go to waste. Sustainable food and beverage vendors will also be part of the celebration.
A featured element of the City’s Earth Day programming will be Earth Day Talks @ Trash Bash, a short speaker series featuring four talk-format presentations designed to inform, inspire, and send attendees home with practical next steps. The talks will highlight leaders in sustainability, climate communication, and community action, with topics ranging from indoor air quality and energy use in buildings to implementation strategies, community momentum, and how climate solutions take hold locally.
Earth Day Talks @ Trash Bash speakers include:
Lauren Londoño, Go Green Initiative — The Air We Share: Indoor Air Quality, Energy, and Climate in the Buildings We Live In
Shea Cunningham, Balanced Approach — From Intention to Implementation: A Practical Sustainability Playbook for Homes, Businesses, and Cities
Programming in Andrews Hall will begin at 11:00 a.m. with welcome remarks recognizing the partnership between the Center and the City. During the opening portion of the program, attendees will hear announcements recognizing the 2026 Trashion Fashion Runway Show winners, the Earth Day Photography Contest winner, and the Green Business of the Year Award recipient, presented by the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The program will then transition into Earth Day Talks @ Trash Bash, running from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. Seating in Andrews Hall is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The talks will be recorded and made available for public viewing.
Following the talks, attendees are invited to stay for “Talking Trash (For the Planet): Waste, Recycling and Climate Solutions in Sonoma Valley,” a fast-moving, Sonoma-specific panel focused on practical, everyday actions. Moderated by Climate Action Commission member Norma Fogelberg, the discussion will feature representatives from Sonoma Garbage Collectors and Recology, with additional panelists to be announced. The conversation will explore what happens after waste and recycling are collected, what is changing in recycling and organics systems, and which everyday choices make the biggest impact locally. Audience questions will be a featured part of the session.
Highlights include the 2:00 p.m. final bid call for the Trashion Barbies & Bags Gallery 212 Exhibit & Auction, supporting the Center’s arts programs. Donated by Recology Sonoma Marin, plastic dolls—otherwise taking 20 to 500 years to decompose—were rescued from landfills and transformed by community members of all ages into recycled art.
The City of Sonoma’s inaugural Earth Day component grew out of efforts by the City’s Climate Action Commission, whose members encouraged the City to explore ways to create a community Earth Day event focused on climate action and sustainability. The program was developed in collaboration with the Commission, with support from the City’s new Sustainability Coordinator, Antoinette Freeman, along with staff across departments who helped bring the event to life.
“What I love about Sonoma is how many people in this community are already doing meaningful work around sustainability,” said Sonoma Mayor Ron Wellander. “Partnering with the Sonoma Community Center to add an Earth Day component to the already beloved Trash Bash gives us a chance to highlight those efforts and bring people together around climate action and sustainability in our community. I also want to thank the members of the Climate Action Commission for helping spark the idea and move it forward.”
“We’re excited to bring these efforts together into one dynamic event for our community,” said Vanessa Glamore Rognlien, Executive Director of the Sonoma Community Center. “Trash Bash and Earth Day both celebrate the power of creativity and collective action. By highlighting the intersection of art and sustainability, we hope to inspire people to see ‘trash’ differently and discover meaningful ways we can all work together to care for our planet.”
In the spirit of Earth Day, attendees are encouraged to walk or ride bikes to the Center when possible.
More details will be posted on the City website, SonomaCity.org, and shared through the City newsletter and social media as the event approaches.
For more information about Trashion Fashion, visit the SonomaCommunityCenter.org. Learn more about the City’s Climate Action Commission and Climate Action and Sustainability initiatives, or subscribe to receive related updates, at SonomaCity.org.
About Sonoma Community Center
The Sonoma Community Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1953 to serve the communities of Sonoma Valley with the mission of cultivating a vibrant community through extraordinary creative, cultural, and learning experiences. Originally built as the Sonoma Grammar School, which opened in 1916, the Center is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Community – Innovation – Creativity – Inclusion – Leadership
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Media Contact:
Molly Spencer, Director of Engagement and Sustainability
Sonoma Community Center
707-938-4626
[email protected]
