Top 10 Earth Day Activities
Aug 1, 2012 Lesson Planning 4445 Views
I put together 10 activities for Earth Day. Things you can do to make a difference not only for our planet, but in your community too! These are things that you can keep up with after as well, not just on Earth Day!
1.) Feed the birds!
If you have children, use part of the day to take your empty soda bottles (or find some pine cones) to create a recycled bird feeder. Place in your garden or hang it from a tree and check back to see who's been eating from it!
2.) Make a plan to recycle (if you don't have one already)
If you already do, check with your school/kids school or place of work to see what their recycling plan is. If theirs isn't maximized, create a BETTER plan with them to promote more recycling.
Did you know: Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour?
Did you know: If all of our newspapers were recycled, we could save about 250 million trees each year! If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we could save about 25 million trees each year?
Fact: Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours. In spite of this, Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every three months!
Did you know: A typical family consumes 182 gallons of soda, 29 gallons of juice, 104 gallons of milk, and 26 gallons of bottled water a year. That's a lot of containers that can all be recycled!!!
It might seem like a small way to participate, but recycling your items properly helps the planet tremendously!
3.) Find an Earth Day event in your area!
Research your state and local area for organizations and events that are supporting Earth Day.
4.) Check under your sink!
Many people don't realize that the everyday household cleaners are not environmentally friendly or healthy to breathe in. This website: http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/formulat/formpart.htm has a list of GREEN products for the home.
From EPA.GOV: When you use a cleaning product, it is released into the environment-inside your home and down the drain to the outdoors. Adults come in contact with cleaning products on a regular basis, as do children who are often the most exposed when they crawl on the floor. Some consumers may prefer cleaning products that, for example, are inherently safer or do not irritate sensitive skin. Others may prefer products that break down quickly and do not harm fish or are safer for use around family pets. The DFE logo is an easy way to know you are choosing a product that is as safe as possible for people and the environment.
5.) Swap your transportation!
Make a trip with your bicycle, or take a walk, instead of using your car. While it might not be realistic to walk to work, try exchanging a car ride for a walk or bike a few errands.
6.) Plant a Tree
While this is probably the MOST unoriginal one, planting a tree is probably the best. Every tree planted helps reduce greenhouse emissions, cleans air pollution, secures the soil around it to prevent erosion, and provides a home for a lot of biodiversity.
7.) Cook a meal dedicated to Earth Day!
Use locally produced veggies and meats. Not only are they healthier, they actually have less of an impact on the planet.
8.) Pick up litter around the neighborhood
Try to gather a few of your neighbors, or try to get the entire neighborhood, to walk around and pick up any trash on the ground. Anything around sewers and drainage basins should be picked up because it leads to water systems and oceans. Litter is unsafe for wildlife and the ecosystem as well, so you'll be helping out tremendously.
9.) Read about the current issues on the planet
While most of us are probably familiar with the current issues impacting out planet, take the time and brush up on some new facts and information. Take the new things you've learned and share it with someone; your kids, significant other, neighbor... ANYONE! Information spreads like wildfire. The more people you share with the better.
10.) Take all of the things you've just read and continue to use them.
Earth Day is a day for awareness, but that awareness doesn't have to become forgotten about on Monday morning. Everything above you can use, in some way, daily. You can share it, reblog it, post it to Facebook and Twitter, and make it apart of your everyday lifestyle.