ASPEN The roles were switched, and kids were educating adults during Aspen Earth Day as Hunter Callahan, 11, and Kevin Callahan, 9, were honored Sunday for biking to school every day.Last year, Hunter rode his bike to school every day, and this school year, he convinced his younger brother to get on the saddle for the snowy rides. Perhaps next year, it will be a few dozen students.

The two earned plaques from Aspen Mayor Helen Klanderud in front of a crowd at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies. She said the Callahan’s were providing an example for everyone to follow. The event at ACES featured booths and fun activities as well as lunch and awards. Earlier in the day, there was a 10k and an educational walk for kids. The evening featured a party at Belly Up Aspen. “Education is the key to many environmental issues,” said Calla Ostrander, acting director of Aspen’s Canary Initiative. “So this is a wonderful event.”

All of the events Sunday were planned to be in line with the goals of honoring Earth. That meant it was a zero waste day, with compostable cups and reusable utensils. “Most of what we get will be compost and recyclables,” said Pitkin County Landfill outreach coordinator Dylan Hoffman. “We’ll get some trash but it will be very minimal.”State Sen. Gail Schwartz spoke at the event on environmental issues and thanked locals for their support. She said that her district, which stretches from Aspen down to Colorado’s southern border, is one of the most beautiful parts of the state and one of the most at-risk.

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Schwartz said support is needed every time an environmental piece of legislation comes up for vote in the State Senate and encouraged people to stay involved. Joel Stonington’s e-mail address is jstonington@aspentimes.com