Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Celebrates Earth Day All April Long!

By: Kellie McGregor, CMZ Outreach Coordinator & Earth Month Committee Member

In March and April, nature awakes from its deep sleep to enjoy the warmer temperatures. Have you noticed the flowers and grass beginning to peer out from their winter hiding spots? Even the animals at the zoo are enjoying the sun. Just yesterday, one of our Amur tigers was playfully savoring a dip in the water of his exhibit. It’s as if nature is rejoicing the coming of spring. That’s why it’s fitting we are celebrating, too! This April, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is teaming up with Pikes Peak Earth Day, and other businesses and non-profits to celebrate Mother Earth the entire month.


To start things off, we’re throwing a party! The Pikes Peak Earth Month Kickoff Party jumpstarts the month of festivities on April 1, 2012, at Stargazers Theatre in Colorado Springs from 5:30pm to 9:00pm. It’s going to be a night of sustainability, conservation, and fun! Enjoy music, food, and drinks supplied by companies that care about our Earth. Even better, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Zoo On The Move and Quarters for Conservation projects will be there with live animals, and information on how you can protect wild animals and wild places. Guests will also have the chance to make a pledge to make a change in their lives to better the environment through our new pledge program.


Being a part of the Pikes Peak Earth Day committee and the Pikes Peak Earth Month Kickoff Party is especially important to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo because protecting our planet is something we strive to do all year long. In addition to providing up close experiences with animals, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo implemented the Quarters for Conservation program - $0.25 of each admission is allocated to conservation efforts around the world. In an effort to reduce waste, we’ve also begun a composting program. We know that in order to protect our amazing animals and habitats they live in, we must be good stewards of the planet.


We are challenging you to be good stewards of our planet, too. Check our calendar for Earth Month activities at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo or the Pikes Peak Earth Day website for happenings throughout Colorado Springs, then join us at the Pikes Peak Earth Month Kickoff Party on April 1 and pledge to make a change.

96 Yards of Waste

For many years the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has been searching for composting opportunities in an effort to resolve the question…What do they do with all the poop?  As you can imagine we have literally tons of organic material, or in other words poop, which can be composted.  In the summer of 2011 Bestway Disposal announced it had started a composting sector for commercial businesses and after considering all aspects of what a disposal transition would mean for the Zoo we decided to join the movement. 

What is composting?  It is nature’s way of processing and recycling decomposed organic material and returning the nutrients from organic material back into the ground.  Composting creates a rick, dark soil fit for growing just about anything.  Compost helps reduce pest problems which ultimately reduces your use of pesticides; diverts material from landfills; it improves moisture retention in the soil; prevents the need to purchase soil conditioners; increases the nutrient levels in the plants you are growing and consuming; allows for children to learn about the cycle of life…the benefits are endless. 

So far Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has started composting in African Rift Valley (ARV) and Elephants.  By composting in ARV and Elephants we have eliminated all but one of our regular consumable waste bins along the ARV Road.  In those two areas we have gone from 96 yards of waste per week to 2 yards of waste; that’s approximately 680 tons of material being diverted from the landfill on an annual basis.  Future moves include expanding our composting efforts to other areas of the Zoo to include Hippos, Primate World, Commissary and Food Services. 

You may ask yourself, how can you make a difference?  Well, composting is easy.  All you need is a relatively flat location, a pile of organic waste to include nitrogen and carbon, water and a way to rotate or turn the pile.  For additional details on how to compost please visit websites on composting practices, speak with representatives at your local nursery, call your disposal service or chat with a landscaping company. 

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo continues to strive for sustainability through conservation, recycling, composting and education.  Please visit our website to learn more about our conservation efforts.  


Written by: Mindy Carney