Something that everyone learns from a young age is the necessity to care for the environment and the planet we live on. It starts with learning about recycling and stays with us throughout schooling until we learn about how damaging humans have been to the environment. However, for some reason, there is still a question in people’s minds about whether or not climate change is something to worry about. Hint: It is! On days like National Earth Day, people need to be reminded just how important it is to care for our home. There are so many unique and simple ways to celebrate Earth Day that are both fun and help the environment.
April 22 marks National Earth Day, the day that was set up to celebrate and protect the beautiful environment in which we live. It has been celebrated for over 50 years now and has sparked a lot of discussion and change surrounding the environment.
It is a day meant for awareness and education. One of the best parts of Earth Day is how people of all ages can get involved. I remember celebrating earth day in grade school, and I continue to celebrate it to this day. It is a fantastic source of starting conversation for everyone in the community.
So, if you are searching for some unique or simple ways to celebrate earth day, you have come to the right place. I am an expert on figuring out how to spend your day, so this post is going to include 10 ideas that are both fun and good for the environment!
Related: 5 Easy Ways to Be More Eco-Friendly Today!
What is Earth Day?
According to the earthday.org, here are some statistics about Earth Day:
The first Earth Day was in…
1970
The amount of people involved in Earth Day each year is about…
1,000,000,000
The amount of countries that celebrate Earth Day is over…
190
For years prior to the first National Earth Day, people were consuming and discarding many hazardous materials and fumes into the environment, with little regard for the impact on the planet. That was until Gaylord Nelson, along with Pete McCloskey and Denis Hayes got together to create a day of awareness, starting with college campuses (earthday.org). This was the start of Earth Day.
From this, the Earth Day that we know now grew. National Earth Day is a time for people to stop, learn, and reflect on how we are impacting the environment. Many events are held, children in school are taught, and general awareness of the state of our environment is talked about.
For more information, check out the official Earth Day website here!
Ways to Celebrate Earth Day
Now you know a little bit more about the background of Earth Day, here are some ways you can celebrate Earth Day that is both fun and good for the environment.
1. Get out in your community and clean
They always say, charity starts at home, right? Well, that is true about protecting the environment as well. Although it is easy to become overwhelmed by the size of the planet and all that needs to be done to protect it, no act is too small. No clean-up is too minimal. So get out of the house and do some clean-up in your very own neighborhood.
Start with parks, beaches, or other nature reserves that people frequent. Unfortunately, those are the places with the most traffic and most trash.
2. Take some time to learn
Whether it is doing some online research, reading a book, or listening to a podcast, a great way to celebrate Earth Day is simply by learning! There is so much good information out there on the science behind climate change, ways you can help, and what needs to be done with legislation to change the fate of the planet.
3. Look in your community for volunteer opportunities
Finding volunteer opportunities in your community is just a Google search away. Most communities will put together events or groups of people around Earth Day to plant flowers, clean up, and more. Check out what is happening in your community, there might be something fun!
4. Do a craft with completely reused materials
If you have a young environmentalist on your hand, a great way to engage them in celebrating Earth Day is through a craft using all upcycled materials. Create a planter out of an old food container or use old scraps of cloth to make something new and beautiful! Challenge yourself to use only the materials you find around the house. Something you would typically throw away or donate. My favorite is using old t-shirts and clothes to create reusable household items like mop pads and face cloths! There are so many options!
Check out this post from weareteachers.com for so many more ideas!
5. Go thrift shopping and bring a bag of clothes to donate
Thrift shopping is a great way to grab some new fashion looks while also being conscious of the environment. Every year, a huge amount of textiles are created through fast fashion and quickly changing trends. These clothes often end up in dumps.
Shopping at thrift stores is a great way to combat that. Another thing to do is to donate any used clothing or other household items that you don’t want anymore to thrift shops and shelters that might need them.
If you want to be extra conscious, research the thrift stores you are giving your business to. There are some that aren’t so great. You might even be able to find thrift stores that donate money specifically to environmental organizations, which is perfect for celebrating Earth Day!
6. Commit to making Earth Day as carbon-free as possible
Earth Day is always celebrated on April 22, which means it sometimes falls in the middle of the week. People need to go to work, run errands, and continue with their life. But making the conscious choice to make as little of a carbon footprint as possible that day is easy and fun! Find other ways to get to work, like riding a bike, carpooling, or using public transportation. Be conscious of the activities you choose to do that day. Choose things that make as little impact on the environment as possible!
7. Plant some trees or other oxygen producing plants
The more plants absorbing carbon in the environment, the less carbon there is destroying the ozone! And plants are pretty to look at so it’s a win-win! During Earth Day, check locally for any tree-planting events or activities. Or focus on your own garden! There are a lot of plants that are particularly good at absorbing carbon and producing oxygen! Or check out desert landscaping, and using local foliage to minimize the need for irrigation in your garden.
8. Take some time deleting old emails
This isn’t exactly the most fun way to celebrate Earth Day, but it is certainly simple and effective! There are billions of emails sent out every day (I think… there are a lot) and it takes energy to store them in cyberspace, on hardware around the world. It is actually bad for the environment to keep old, unnecessary emails, believe it or not!
So take some time today to delete as many old and spammy emails as you can. It is definitely going to be a long process for me, with all the random emails I have been way too lazy to delete. But Earth Day is the perfect day to spend some time doing just that!
9. Contact local officials and legislation makers
The only way that change is ever going to happen for the environment is through a change in legislation, which would impact big corporations, the biggest producers of waste and pollution. So if you want to do something useful on National Earth Day, spend some time emailing, calling, and messaging your local lawmakers, urging them to champion bills that will control the pollution large companies are releasing into the environment.
10. Donate!
If you are able to, a fantastic way to celebrate Earth Day is to help the cause financially! A couple of organizations you can donate to are listed below:
- 350.org
- EarthJustice
- National Forest Foundation
- The National Environmental Education Foundation
- Waterkeeper Alliance
Each one of these foundations focuses on different things. Some focus on cleaning the planet, others on education, and others on the legislative side of things. So research whatever organization you plan to donate to, and make sure it’s a good fit for you and your goals for the planet.
I hope you found something on this list that inspired you to celebrate the day. There are so many different options, and there is no right or wrong way to celebrate. Simply taking the time to learn something about this planet is enough.
I am also a huge proponent of celebrating Earth Day every day of the year, no matter how cheesy that sounds. Earth is the only home we get, so might as well protect and cherish it, right?
Happy National Earth Day!
