5 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day from Home!
appease mother nature by celebrating earth day 2020 online!
Photo by Photo Boards on Unsplash
Happy Earth Day!
Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day! Earth Day was set up by the Earth Day Network in 1970 to galvanise people into taking action to protect their environment. What usually involves people getting outside and fighting for the health of their planet, picking up rubbish and protesting, has this year manifested as an online-only event due to the global coronavirus pandemic (heard of it?), ironically caused, at least in part, by our interactions with wildlife. Can this year’s Earth Day create the same positive impact we’ve seen in previous years?
Earth Day, 1970. Image by Tom Cone of Phillips Academy and copyrighted by the Phillips Academy Archives and Special Collections, Andover. License: Some Rights Reserved.
Whereas past iterations of Earth Day have involved environmental activism, community clean-ups, and events, this year’s events take place 100% online. It can be harder to feel engaged with nature when you’re stuck indoors, so I’ve put together a few ways you can celebrate Earth Day from home!
Kicking off this list with another list, the Earth Day 2020 website is home to a staggering 1355 digital Earth Day Events! Find a local event or have a browse. I had to strongly fight my obsessive streak to not scroll through every single event, but a couple that caught my attention include a composting webinar and a live streamed event called EarthX with speakers including scientists, conservationists, and National Geographic Explorers.
Photo by Benjamin Combs on Unsplash
Do it just like this. Photo by SCREEN POST on Unsplash
2. Download the Earth Challenge 2020 App
Heading out on your daily government-permitted exercise or off to scan the semi-empty supermarket shelves for pasta? Download this citizen science app to your phone and collect environmental data from your area for scientists at the same time! You can use the app to monitor factors like air quality and plastic pollution.
3. volunteer for wildlife online
Did you know that there are literally hundreds of wildlife conservation organisations that need your help online? I recently put together this resource of sites where you can find remote online wildlife volunteering work. Help the Earth this Earth Day by volunteering to protect its inhabitants!
Who wouldn’t want to help save this little cutie? Photo by Diego Guzmán on Unsplash
Photo by Chris Henry on Unsplash
4. Earth Day Live
This online event features messages, performances and calls to action from an insanely diverse list of people, including the pope, Al Gore, Bill Nye (the science guy), Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews and plenty more! Tune in to be inspired.
5. Free Online Wildlife Conservation Courses
Celebrate Earth Day 2020 by brushing up on your wildlife conservation knowledge, learning something new with an environmental science course, or even gaining a certificate for your studies, all for free!
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash
Do you think Earth Day is a little redundant this year or still worth celebrating? Let me know in the comments below!