When is Earth Day?
Since its first celebration on April 22, 1970, Earth Day has grown to be celebrated by over 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. It continues to be celebrated each year on April 22nd. While countless organizations, businesses, and people spend the entire year working to make the planet a better place to live, April 22nd is a day for all to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
10 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day
Earth Day is coming up and we wanted to put together a list of some different and creative ways that you can help sustain and protect our planet this week and on April 22nd.
1. Go Car-less.
Spend the day walking or biking wherever you need to go! Not only is it good for your physical and mental health, going car-less is great for the environment because it helps to limit fossil fuel usage and is a pollution-free mode of transport.
2. Clean Up Plastic in Your Neighborhood or Local Park.
Small pieces of trash and litter can really start to accumulate and impact the environment if they aren’t picked up and disposed of correctly. So, this Earth Day, head on out with a trash bag and pick up any trash or plastic that you can find, and don’t forget to recycle!
3. Find a Local Event
Every Earth Day, there are infinite events going on in your local community. You can use the official EarthDay.org Event Calendar to find out what’s going on near you and how you can volunteer or get involved. You can even filter by specific event types, virtual or in-person, age ranges, and languages!
4. Audit your Household Products
It’s important to give back to the environment by using household products from companies that are trying to protect it.
Do your best to use products that are biodegradable, made from recycled materials, and don’t use harmful chemicals or plastic. Maybe it’s time to invest in a roll of 100% recycled aluminum foil or reusable paper towels?
5. Switch to Digital & Remove Paper Waste
While it may seem daunting to reduce your amount of junk mail, taking small steps such as switching your paper bills to e-bills or removing yourself from certain magazine lists and moving to digital reading would help save millions of trees a year.
So, this year take some time to move what you can online.
6. Visit a Local Farmers Market
A fun activity you and friends or family could participate in is visiting your local farmers' market.
It’s always great to support local business owners and growers and farmers in your area, but buying locally also helps save transportation energy and fossil fuels.
7. Plant a tree
Whether you plant one in your backyard or donate to a tree-planting initiative, the more trees we have on Earth, the better. Trees give off oxygen that we need to breathe and help reduce the amount of stormwater runoff, reducing erosion and pollution in our waterways. Not to mention, many species depend on trees for their habitat, food, and protection.
8. Create a Backyard Oasis
Let the critters around you feel the love this Earth Day. Consider making your yard an oasis for birds and other creatures to come and find food and water. You can put in a bird feeder, install birdhouses, put in a birdbath, and more!
9. Find Your Green Thumb
Starting a backyard garden of any size is a sustainable and wonderful way to help the environment. Gardens can help reduce negative environmental impacts by reducing food transportation costs, water runoff, and sustainable agriculture. If you don’t feel like tackling a garden yourself, see if you can pull together people around you to start a community garden.
10. Make the Switch
Small switches to reusable products help protect the environment from unnecessary waste and chemicals. Avoid plastic grocery store bags by keeping reusable bags or tote bags in your car. Doing this (and encouraging others to do the same) could help significantly cut down on the amount of litter on land and in the ocean.
Another simple switch? Ditch the plastic water bottles and invest in an eco-friendly water bottle. When you use a reusable bottle, you're avoiding the harmful chemicals and effects of plastic bottles while also minimizing waste. We’ve got lots of sustainable options here at Elemental!
Earth Day…Did you know?
- This year’s Earth Day theme is “Invest in Our Planet”, centering on “accelerating solutions to combat our greatest threat, climate change, and to activate everyone — governments, citizens, and businesses — to do their part."
- April 22 was chosen as the date for Earth Day because it fell between Spring Break and final exams, and organizers wanted to maximize student involvement.
- 20 million Americans (about 10%of the country’s population at the time) took part in events and demonstrations on the first Earth Day in 1970.
- Earth Day 1970 inspired the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts, according to the EPA.
- Wisconsin senator, Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day in 1970 to raise public awareness and consciousness about environmental concerns such as pollution, oil spills, and vanishing wildlife.
- This year, New York City is celebrating its largest-ever Car-Free Earth Day.
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Today, Earth Day is the largest secular holiday in the world, with more than 500 million people taking part in 174 countries around the world.
How will you be celebrating Earth Day this year?
