If you are a person who cares about preserving the health of the Earth and our environment for future generations, you may already be considering fun, sustainable, and educational ways to celebrate Earth Day.
Started in 1970, Earth Day was established to celebrate our planet and promote awareness for ways to take care of it. These days, a variety of Earth Day festivals take place all over the world, and many people use this day as an opportunity to initiate a new habit or way of living that could be more sustainable.
If you’re wondering about how to celebrate Earth Day this year, then this list is for you. The great thing about Earth Day is that you can celebrate by yourself, with kids, with your community, or even at your place of work. Anything you can do that is natural, sustainable, and/or community-oriented can work as ways to celebrate Earth Day.
This list of Earth Day ideas is simply a place to get started. There may already be celebrations going on in your community that you can get involved in, or you may have to come up with some ideas of your own. This Earth Day, think about ways you can advocate for more sustainable practices within your home, community, or workplace.
With a little thought and creativity, you’re bound to come up with plenty of your own Earth Day ideas too.
Earth Day Ideas
1. Plant a Tree
Trees play an important role in preserving the earth and enhancing our environment. On top of being a key resource for turning carbon dioxide into oxygen so we can all breathe, trees are also simply wonderful to see and enjoy. They provide shade for people, habitats for birds and other animals, and have also been shown to decrease the temperature in urban areas by as much as 10 degrees.
With a little research, you might find a group that is already planning a tree planting event for your area. If not, perhaps you can start one!
If you have space on your property, trees have also been shown to increase property values, making them a fine addition to your home.
If you would like to plant a tree for Earth Day, consult your local nursery to find out what tree would be best for your space. You will want to consider factors like how tall the tree will get, how wide the roots will spread, how fast it will grow, and how much water it will need.
2. Plant a Garden
If you like the idea of planting something but a tree is more than you have room for, consider starting a garden instead.
Not only will a garden provide you with a regular source of healthy natural food, it can also be a lot of fun to plant and maintain. You can grow a surprising number of vegetables in a relatively small plot, and some food plants will even grow in pots.
If you have kids at home, gardening can be a great activity for them too. They will love being able to enjoy the “fruits of their labor” once your plants grow large enough to eat.
3. Spend Time in Nature
Preserving our natural spaces is a key aspect of protecting the planet and can also be one of the primary ways to celebrate Earth Day.
If you’re lucky enough to have access to nature near you, you can go for a walk, hike, or bike ride, or just wander and find a nice place to sit and soak up the beauty. These are all wonderful activities to celebrate Earth Day.
Apps like iNaturalist can help you identify some of the different trees, plants, and birds you see. Kids often love learning about the plants and animals in their area. You may even be lucky enough to see blooms of colorful wildflowers or beautiful migrating birds.
4. Go for a Bike Ride
Another great way to celebrate Earth Day is to leave the car at home and do some traveling by bike.
Taking your bike to work or running errands can be a great way to sneak in some exercise while also cutting down on the carbon emissions that result from your car.
If riding your bike to work is too big of a leap right now, just start where you are. Take that beat-up bike out of the garage and give it a ride around the block for fun.
If you’re a more seasoned cyclist, perhaps make it a plan to ride your bike to work for Earth Day or organize a fun bike ride in your community.
5. Get Involved
There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to help preserve our planet. These efforts will go a lot better and further when we all work together to make it happen.
Chances are your area has a number of different environmental activist organizations for you to join. These could be groups that plant trees, pick up trash, lobby for environmental legislation, or work to provide more environmental education to others.
Find a group that fits your values and temperament and see what you can do to get more involved. Many of these groups will likely take advantage of Earth Day to find new recruits, so they shouldn’t be too hard to find. They will undoubtedly have their own Earth Day projects for you to participate in as well.
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6. Do a Neighborhood Clean-Up
One of the most immediate Earth Day ideas that you can put into action is to do a sweep of your neighborhood or natural spaces near you to clean up any trash or debris you find. Clean-up efforts serve the important function of keeping trash from polluting natural environments. It also makes your neighborhood look a lot nicer too!
There may already be a group or organization hosting a clean-up in your area, and that can be a fun way to contribute and meet some like-minded people. You can also consider hosting your own clean-up or just head out and do a neighborhood sweep of your own. Every little bit counts.
7. Explore How to Reduce Your Own Carbon Footprint
Another way to celebrate Earth Day is to look into different ways that you can reduce your own carbon footprint.
Finding ways to minimize the miles you put on your car is one way that you can greatly reduce your carbon footprint. You may also want to consider switching to an electric vehicle.
You can also explore ways to bring down your energy bill, which not only helps the planet but also saves you money. Start by researching electricity plans powered by renewable energy.
Here are some other helpful energy saving tips.
8. Get Renewable
Speaking of decreasing your carbon footprint, shifting your utilities toward more renewable energy sources is not only good for the planet, but also for your pocketbook.
Switching to solar power is one of the more impactful things you can do for your home and the planet. There are many benefits of solar energy. Even if you can’t switch right away, you can begin by researching solar energy plans to prepare for a shift in the future.
9. Carpool
Carpooling to work every day is another great way to reduce your carbon footprint while also decreasing the burden that comes with the daily commute.
If you have any coworkers that live near you or neighbors that work near your office, you can start by carpooling as a way to celebrate Earth Day. You may find that you enjoy carpooling enough to make it a regular thing.!
10. Bring Your Earth Day Ideas to Work
Another great way that you can celebrate Earth Day is by bringing some of that save-the-planet energy to work.
There are lots of great Earth Day at work ideas, including starting a task force to integrate more sustainable practices into the company or creating a volunteer pool to help with neighborhood clean-ups.
Conclusion
We hope that this list of Earth Day ideas has helped get the gears turning in your brain. The truth is there are so many different ways to celebrate Earth Day. With a little thought and creativity, you’ll surely come up with plenty of other celebrate Earth Day ideas on your own that will help you save the planet, meet new people, and feel like you’re making a lasting positive impact.
Happy Earth Day from all of us at Gexa Energy!
