It’s been a labor of love since 2017 when Ana McAbee co-founded the Eugene Environmental Film Festival. This year’s festival kicks off with the Love Where You Live river cleanup Oct. 12. Film screenings at Art House — along with field trips and walks with nonprofits and businesses such as Friends of Trees, Bulk Handling Systems, BRING Recycling, Beyond Toxics and more — are set for Oct. 13 through 19. McAbee, who is the festival’s director, still very much enjoys the Youth and Wildlife portion. “I do love the kid day,” she says. “It’s been fun to play with that over the years.” The Youth and Wildlife day is Oct. 19 at Ridgeline Montessori Public Charter School, and it will begin with film screenings. Youth-inspired workshops with Cascades Raptor Center, W.R.E.N. and BRING will follow. McAbee explains that kids today are inundated with information about climate change. The workshops, she notes, allows kids to be “part of the solution. They have some agency.” Also, “bringing back laughter and fun” is the goal of the whole festival, McAbee says. The festival includes Q&A sessions with filmmakers after screenings, a song workshop and a fundraising after-party Oct. 17 at Claim 52. “The filmmakers love this festival. That warms my heart,” McAbee says.

The Eugene Environmental Film Festival begins with the Love Where You Live river cleanup 9 am to 11 am Sunday, Oct. 12, at the D Street Boat Ramp in Springfield. Film screenings and Q&A sessions are Oct. 13 through 19 at Art House, 492 East 13th Avenue. Ticket information and registration for walks and field trips is at EugeneEnvironmentalFilmFestival.org. Individual film tickets are $12 or $180 for a festival pass, available at EugeneArtHouse.com. The Youth and Wildlife Day is Oct. 19 with film screenings beginning at 11 am, followed by youth-inspired workshops noon to 1:30 pm at Ridgeline Montessori Public Charter School, 4500 West Amazon Drive. Free.