Earth Day is Saturday, April 22. Here are some ways you can celebrate in your school.
Earth Day comes around every April, giving us a moment of pause to appreciate, celebrate, and support the planet. It was created in 1970 to raise awareness about protecting our planet and to urge people to take action. This year’s theme is “Invest in Our Planet,” with the hope of engaging citizens everywhere, including organized institutions, to be accountable for their part in preserving the planet.
What does EarthDay.org hope to accomplish this year? Here are the highlights, including ways your school sites can join the celebration.
Climate & Environmental Literacy
Civic education about our climate has skyrocketed into an all-out movement to save the planet. Students around the world should be learning accurate, real information to create environmental stewards. (All statistics can be found on the EarthDay.org site.)
Earth Day Idea: Have students teach the community, creating signs, chalking the walks, creating social media posts and videos, and giving presentations to the local government about ways your community can support the earth.
Sustainable Fashion
With the fashion industry pumping out over 8% of total greenhouse gas emissions, there are ways to create clothing that is both ecologically and socially responsible. And fashion isn’t just clothing - the industry contributes to deforestation, crude oil derivatives like polyester, microplastic pollution in the oceans, and carbon emissions.
Earth Day Idea: Upcycle clothes with your classes this year, challenging students to innovate or repurpose old or outdated clothing items into another product.
Breaking the Single-Use Habit
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest threats to the environment, showing up in landfills, oceans, and natural habitats. It’s easy to overlook how much plastic we use on a given day, so check out the Plastics Calculator on the Earth Day website to calculate your impact. This can be eye-opening to students and adults alike, especially where your school is concerned.
Earth Day Idea: Have students assess the plastic used by your schools and then come up with ways to reduce the overall impact. What can they repurpose or innovate to prevent this usage, and what would the impact be on the school, both negative and positive?
The Great Global Cleanup
This one’s simple in theory, but to make an impact worldwide will take all of our help. Essentially, citizens are charged with cleaning up their areas, including neighborhoods, beaches, parks, roadside, and more to reduce plastic pollution while improving natural habitats.
Earth Day Idea: Organize a large-group cleanup, where teams from your school district deploy out to the community to clean up and improve areas. Register your teams online and publicize the event, urging your community members to do cleanups of their own. Help your students be a part of this worldwide event!
On their website, EarthDay.org also offers toolkits to support your celebrations, up-to-date statistics and information, and quizzes to help you assess your own understanding of environmental topics. Check it out and share it with your students!