PORTLAND, Ore. -- Tuesday is Earth Day, offering a 24-hour homage to the planet and its protection, and a few events around town offered Portlanders a chance to do their part.

Graphic courtesy: Hinton Library

The entire fleet of PDX pedicabs was transporting downtown Portlanders to hike around Forest Park and help clean it up in honor of Earth Day.

The pedicab company will pick up employees of Icebreaker, the New Zealand apparel company, at its Pearl District headquarters and take them to participate in the Forest Park Conservancy event.

Others were invited out to the park as well to take part in informational walks or just to hike around alone and enjoy the weather.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski was in town and in honor of Earth Day he was test driving an electric vehicle from Mitsubishi.

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Kulongoski recently signed a pledge to create a network of charging stations for electric cars across Oregon.

Local landscapers were heeding President Obama’s national call to service by promoting environmental stewardship around town. Zenger Farm, a nonprofit organic farm and wetland in Southeast Portland, was hosting an informative event on earth-friendly irrigation.

Volunteers from Dennis 7 Dees Landscaping were also heading out to Zenger Farms to upgrade earth-friendly irrigation as part of the national service call.

Sustainable eating was being promoted with a Low Carbon Lunch at the University of Portland on Tuesday. The public was invited to share in a delicious meal that wouldn’t raise the planet’s temperature at University Commons from 10:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. for $5. For more on low carbon eating visit http://www.eatlowcarbon.org.

Everyone can do their part to conserve energy by unplugging “vampire electronics” on Earth Day. It’s a simple, effective way to cut electricity costs -- unplug cell phone chargers, iPod chargers, hair dryers and coffee pots and you can save hundreds of dollars a year while doing “your share” to conserve energy.

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Check out the EnviroMedia website at http://www.enviromedia.com for more on how to save money and the planet at the same time.