23 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day 2023
Happy Earth Month!
I have mixed feelings about Earth Day and you can check them out in depth in this video, but in short, we ALL need to treat every day like Earth Day. I’m here for the conservation and restoration efforts and trash clean-ups and companies going green, but why only do it once a year? I just think it’s a great way to greenwash. Speaking of which, check out last week’s video/post where we talk about how to spot common greenwashing tactics so you can avoid being greenwashed this Earth Month/Earth Day, and download my free guide here to always have handy
1. Pick up trash!
Last year I tried picking up 22 pieces of trash (for earth day 2022) per day but that was too easy to I picked up over 100 pieces of trash every day in April. It was A LOT. You can watch the whole process here. But, get out and pick up some trash for Earth Day or even…
2. Host a community clean-up
Just take your trash picking and make it a group event! It could be with friends or coworkers, or you could advertise it on a larger scale to get your whole community involved. If you’re not a planner you could…
3. Join an existing clean-up
In my area, there are TONS of clean-ups for Earth Day every year and I usually just hop on one of those to avoid the headache of creating it myself. You can search for something like “Las Vegas clean-up” or “Las Vegas earth day events” for your region.
4. Start a garden
What a perfect day to get outside and reconnect with the Earth! Not to mention it’s the perfect time of year to begin a garden (in most regions). This could be a small herb garden on your windowsill, a small bed, or a full-fledged garden. Get out there and play in the dirt!
5. Or just plant some pollinator-friendly plants
Maybe you don’t have the time it takes to work in a garden but still want to connect with the earth, try a flower garden instead. Make sure they are local to your area so they are pollinator-friendly and so you don’t start an invasive species outbreak. And don’t forget, they need water, too! Make shallow pools for them so they don’t drown.
6. Write a letter to your government (or a few)
Let’s send a tidal wave of letters to our governments worldwide this Earth Day demanding they FINALLY take climate change seriously! You could write to them about air pollution, recycling, and composting mandates, climate policy, ocean cleanups, water rights, or whatever else you’re passionate about.
7. Write a letter to a company you want to see doing better
And don’t forget to write to companies as well. Let the wasteful ones know you want to see them doing better, especially the ones using greenwashing all Earth Month! Let the eco ones know you appreciate their efforts. You can find your lawmakers in the US here, learn more about writing effective letters here, and see some examples of letters I wrote and received here.
8. Learn how to conserve water
Water conservation is a super easy way to cut costs and save the planet at the same time and something you can do every single day! Instead of spending tons of time on it, here are my top tips and you can find 50 more ways to conserve water in this video:
- Catch water as your shower heats up to reuse to flush the toilet or water plants
- Reuse water from cooking pasta or veggies or washing off rice and produce to water plants
- Use what you have and take only what you need
- Don’t run the water between dishes or while you brush your teeth/shave
9. Learn how to conserve energy
Another great way to reduce your impact on the planet while also saving some change here and there. Again, I have a full energy conservation video here but here are my top tips:
- Simply remember to turn off lights, especially external house lights
- Use the sun during the day
- Turn off the AC/Heat while no one is home
- Carpool or walk/bike when you can to avoid Big Oil
10. Learn a new way to reduce food waste
This could be an entire blog post on its own (if you’re interested, I’ll do it!) but there are endless ways to reduce food waste. You can check out my full food waste video here to learn more about food waste reduction, but in short, plan your grocery trips/meals, store food properly, and learn how to utilize scraps to make things like veggie broth, soups, dog treats, and so forth. My favorite food waste recipes are banana bread, smoothies, chopping broccoli stems as dog food or to add to soups, and carrot top pesto.
11. Shop locally this Earth Day
Don’t support a big box store that is polluting the planet, support your neighbors! You could go to a Farmer’s Market, a local café or mom-and-pop restaurant, a local craft store/show, or support your fav content creators/online artists (likes, comments, and shares are support!). Shout out your favorite small brands below! Mine are: Earth Blooms, A Mano Wood, Aloha Clay, Good Feeling Tattoo, and B&I Metal Designs (I have so many more! Should this in itself be a blog post?)
12. Read a book or watch an eco-documentary
Get educated this Earth Day! This could also be a fun family event if you have kiddos. I have a list of books and documentaries (and podcasts and other creators to follow) here on my website for you to check out. Bonus tip: support your library by getting a library card and borrowing a book instead of buying a book!
13. Take a hike or take the dogs/kids to the park
The perfect way to spend Earth Day, in my humble opinion, is to get outside! Now, don’t worry, if you live in the city, a walk around the block counts. You could drive a little ways to a local city park, state park, or other public lands, but a stroll to the coffee shop or library counts, too. Admire the city life including city animals and plants. Learn more about zero waste outdoors with Leave No Trace here.
14. Try going car-free for the day
Challenge yourself (if you are able to) to go car-free for the day: walk to get groceries, bike to the cafe, catch a bus to your volunteer event or rally, or even carpool. If anything, spend the day at home enjoying the day and our beautiful planet from there without needing to use fossil fuels. Learn more ways to boycott the fossil fuel industry WITHOUT having to give up your car here.
15. Donate money to an environmental non-profit
If you don’t have the ability or time to donate your time and energy to an Earth Day clean-up, consider donating some money! It doesn’t have to be an exorbitant amount, $5-20 will do just nicely as well. I have a list of charities/go-fund-me’s here on my website if you don’t know where to begin, but I suggest you search for a cause near and dear to your heart.
16. Learn about the plants and animals in your neighborhood
One of my big goals when moving to Las Vegas was to connect with the Earth by learning about the local flora and fauna, and I did! I can name so many plants now and I’ve become a self-acclaimed arborist within the last year. I used to be sooo amazed at people on the internet who could list plant IDs and now I can! It makes me feel so connected to the Earth and now I can see myself noticing patterns in the plants and animals. Start small, maybe one plant a day or a week and remember to keep it fresh in your mind so you can truly commit it to memory!
17. Learn about the Native Lands you reside on and support Land Back Efforts
If you don’t know whose land you’re residing on (if you live in a colonized part of the world), you should and you should be able to recall that name at any time. This is the bare minimum we can do to respect the people whose land is stolen. A further effort you can take is to support Land Back efforts with your dollar and by writing to your governments. I want to cover Land Back in full in a later post, but in short, no one is asking to give up the entire country to Native folks (even though the entire land is their rightful home). What this means is allowing them to have a major say in what happens to the land, how it is developed, water rights, conservation efforts, and so forth as they are the original stewards of these lands and know what is best for its health. You can also support Indigenous people on social media and through their works in books and movies.
18. Start composting
Perhaps this should’ve gone up higher with food waste prevention efforts as they really do go hand in hand. Again, you can learn more about food waste in real depth here, but in short, food waste is super harmful to the planet through the release of Methane gas which is 80x more potent than CO2. Not only is it a huge waste of food but a waste of money and other resources like fertilizer, water, the labor of farmers, and more. So, reduce food waste, but reduce what you send to landfill, too. Composting also yields a rich fertilizer for your own garden, your community garden, or something to give to a friend.
19. Attend a rally or march
Get bold and get active by attending a public rally or march! There usually is one or more of these in major cities on Earth Day to protest climate change. You can simply look up “Earth Day rally” + “your city” in Google to find one near you! Remember water, sun protection, and an upcycled climate crisis picket sign.
20. Throw an eco-party
Want to really go all out for the Earth? Throw/host an eco-party! Use reusables instead of disposables, make plant-based and homemade food from local ingredients, thrift costumes, and décor, play games you already have vs buy new or have guests bring games, send leftovers home with guests to prevent food waste, and more! Get those creative juices flowing. This can be a way to educate your friends on what Earth Day is (check out the History of Earth Day here) and inspire them to reduce their waste by being a good example.
21. build a community!
Chances are, if you live in a big city, one already exists for you. Just search “No Buy” + “Your city” or “Zero Waste” + “your city” on Facebook or Google to find your community. Can’t find one? Start one! Or join bigger groups like “Zero Waste, Zero Judgement” or join my Facebook community at “The Simple Environmentalists.” Community is a great place to barter, get advice, and support one another through your climate-saving efforts. I find it really boosts morale amongst climate anxiety. But, you could also start an in-person community…
22. Start or join an eco-club at your school
If your school already has an eco-club or program, join it! If not, start one! Yes, students, you can do this too, but it may be a little easier for a teacher if there are any teachers watching. You can do school clean-ups, have an eco-newsletter written, speak at assemblies, and more. The options are endless, but again, it comes down to educating and inspiring those around you. You can learn more about how to be zero waste at school here.
23. Educate and inspire others!
And speaking of that last point, educate and inspire other people in your lives: family, internet friends, classmates, coworkers, neighbors, and everyone in between. Leading by example works great and encourages others to reduce their waste to save money and for a cleaner future for us all. You can also offer them resources like books to read, content creators to follow, and so forth!
Happy Earth Day!
If you want a spicier take, here is why I hate Earth Day as an environmentalist. It has a lot to do with the greenwashing companies subject us to, so watch out for that by learning more in this post or downloading my free guide to spot greenwashing!
If you still want some more ideas on how to celebrate, check out these 100 ways to celebrate Earth Day from home, designed in 2020 during the you-know-what but you can apply these any year, pandemic or not ;)
Thank you so much for reading along, let’s make it Earth Day every day. I’ll see you next week and until then, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run
Emma
