Earth Day is turning 50 this year — and while social distancing means we won’t be gathering in groups to mark the milestone, there are plenty of creative ways to participate this week.
Take action
– The Climate Strike movement is going online from April 22 to 24 with a lineup of activists, performers, thought leaders and artists ranging from Al Gore to Shepard Fairey for three days of live-streamed mobilization. Join the livestream (Friday will be all about voting!) and show your support on social media.
– Take a personal stand with simple daily sustainability actions — like collecting water in a bucket while you shower and using it to water plants, or recording all the items you don’t recycle, compost or reuse for one day — from Sustainable Stanford or the Earth Day campaign.
– Make a pledge to vote for environmental progress in your next election through the Earth Day Network’s Vote Earth campaign.
– Volunteer (virtually) for the planet! Become a citizen scientist with Zooniverse, document the nature in your own backyard with the international City Nature Challenge, or help scientists track changes in clouds, water, plants and other life to support climate research with GLOBE Observer. (And if you volunteer with any of these projects, be sure to track your volunteer hours in our Giving Back portal to earn donation rewards.)
Get informed and inspired
– Hear about the health impacts of the climate emergency in a live online chat with Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on April 21.
– Attend a virtual learning summit on climate resiliency on April 21 and an online screening of Earth Day films on April 22 through Stanford University.
– Get the kids involved with an Earth Day livestream on April 22 from the Exploratorium, featuring earth science experiments you can do in your own kitchen and a chat about the environmental benefits of sheltering in place.
However you choose to participate in Earth Day this year, take inspiration from this poem created for the Climate Reality Project and “keep rising up for an Earth more than worth fighting for.”
