10 Creative Ways to Celebrate Earth Day 2020
April 22, 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. For half a century, people all around the world have gathered in celebration and appreciation of our planet. Now recognized as the world’s largest civic event, Earth Day is all about combatting the severe environmental issues impacting our planet and practicing environmentally sustainable habits. With April 22 just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about how you can take action to help protect and restore our planet.
Hold a “Green” Movie Watch Party
Grab your favorite treat and snuggle up on the sofa to watch a movie that reminds you just how amazing the earth is. This film can be anything from a documentary like “The Cove” or Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” to a family-friendly movie like “WALL-E” or “Free Willy.” Make it a Virtual Watch Party by coordinating with your chapter members to start watching at the same time and start a group thread or video to interact as you watch.
Recognize a Climate Action Champion in Your Community
Know someone who champions climate action, promotes sustainability, or advocates for our planet? Award them with a certificate in recognition of their hard work and positive impact on the community.
Participate in a Virtual Climate Strike
Climate strikes are a very important part of demanding climate action from our elected officials. This year, you can join the U.S. Climate Strike virtually. Although avoiding large public gatherings is a necessary step for social distancing, you can still participate by utilizing social media and getting creative while you’re at home.
Spend the Day at a Nearby National Park
National parks are one of the most pristine parts of our planet. What better way to spend Earth Day than getting outside and enjoying all the beauty these parks have to offer. Spending the day outdoors will remind you why we celebrate Earth Day and why it is so important to advocate for climate action.
Cook a Meal using Local Organic Food
Buying local organic food minimizes the use of pesticides and preservatives, two things that have extremely negative effects on the environment. Additionally, by shopping local, you are supporting the economy around you and helping out your neighbors.
Sign up for the Earth Challenge 2020
Using mobile technology and open citizen science data, Earth Challenge 2020 empowers people around the world to monitor and mitigate threats to environmental and human health in their communities. Starting April 1st, you can download the Earth Challenge 2020 mobile app and start collecting data on air quality and plastic pollution, providing valuable insight to help promote policy change.
Clean-up a Local Park
There are so many parks and outdoor areas around us that could benefit from some good cleaning. Caring for these areas not only helps the environment, but also all inhabitants who consider the outdoors to be their home. You can still practice social distancing in the outdoors! Be sure to be safe by working with a buddy and using proper sanitation gloves.
Spread Awareness Through Social Media
One of the easiest ways to spread awareness about a topic is to show your friends and family how much it means to you. A simple Instagram or Twitter post advocating for the importance of Earth Day takes about 2 minutes to create, but it but will make a world of difference! Here is a sample post:
Climate change is affecting lives, disrupting national economies, and costing communities every single day. This is a race we cannot afford to lose, and everyone has a part to play in taking action and advocating for our planet. To celebrate Earth Day on April 22, visit @UNAUSA‘s website and send a message telling Congress to work with the UN and step up on climate ➡️https://unausa.org/global-goals/fight-climate-change/
Make a Video
Crafting is the perfect opportunity to reuse old things that you might’ve otherwise thrown away. Invite your friends and family to send you their old items and turn them into something brand new. Demonstrate how to use those items in a virtual video and tag UNA-USA on social media!
Advocate
Solving the climate crisis is going to take each and every one of us. One important step we can all take is joining the global fight against climate change and supporting the UN’s climate action priorities. UNA-USA provides some great resources that will help you advocate for our planet and ask your elected officials to step up.
