Earth Day Around The Globe: How People All Over The World Are Celebrating & How You Can Join Them

Ways People Are Celebrating Earth Day 2023 Around The World

• The U.S. has the most officially planned Earth Day events, including many festivals & fairs, lectures, cleanups, plantings, and more!
• The U.K. will have various festivals & coastal cleanup events
• Girona, Spain is hosting their annual Earth day festival (previously in Barcelona)
• Many schools in China are participating in a theme week on "Climate Change Awareness for Harmonious Coexistence"
• Italy has planned a peaceful sit-in
• The LEGO factory in Czechia is hosting a zero-impact week for their employees
• Trinidad is having a restoration event at which they will plant  trees 
• Argentina is hosting a conference for conservation organizations
• India will have various events including lectures, plantings, cleanups, and group meditations
• Norway has planned a 4-day cleanup of one of their fjords
• Tanzania and Kenya are hosting cleanup projects
• Australia has multiple cleanups, public conversations, and plantings planned
• Mexico is hosting a conference on "Eco-Friendly Careers" for high school students
• And many more! Explore this map to check out the countless events happening worldwide this Earth Day.

Easy Ways You Can Celebrate Too:

Earth Day Events: Take Action!

• West Chester Community Cleanup in PA
  
• Swissvale Community Cleanup Day in Pittsburgh, PA
• Multiple cleanups organized by Rock Creek Conservancy in Washington, D.C.
• 12th Annual Riverkeeper Sweep along the Hudson River in NY
  
• Countywide Cleanup in Johnston County, NC
• A Diving Cleanup at Pompano beach, FL
• Watershed clenaups in Seguin or New Braunfels, TX
• A cleanup of Encanto Park in Pheonix, AZ
• Heal the Bay events on Los Angeles County, CA
• An Earth Day celebration at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA

At-Home Activities:

• Try some of these cute nature-based crafts or ones using recycled or upcycled materials such as found here or here. Or be creative! Paint some rock friends, build a fairy house, whatever you want to get the kiddos to interact more with & appreciate nature and their surroundings!
• Play some Earth Day themed games with the kids in your life. Try a nature-themed scavenger hunt, play I-spy outside, create an outdoor obstacle course or a relay-race to the recycling bin, there are plenty of cute game ideas out there to try.
• Read some environmental themed books like The Giving Tree or The Lorax with your kids or explore some more educational or advanced books for yourself on environmental issues and how they impact the world today.
• Watch a nature documentary. Many channels including BBC and PBS are playing nature shows or documentaries to celebrate Earth day and many streaming services have a variety of nature shows or movies to learn a bit about our environment or even just see some cool nature photography!
• Or try something a little more light-hearted. There are some great family-friendly or more mature movies out there as well with environmental messages, such as Princess Mononoke, The Lorax (again), Fern Gully, Avatar, or even Interstellar.
• Take a walk or a hike, and even pick up trash on your way or experiment with trying to identify your local plants, nature or animal photography, or leaf pressing.

Easy Lifestyle Swaps:

• Take a trip to your local farmer's market, especially if you've never been there before, and see if you can add them into your weekly food shopping routine. As the weather is getting warmer, many are beginning to open again with a wide variety of local and often surprisingly cheap fruits and vegetables. Many will also have freshly baked goods and locally produced, organic, grass-fed, or cage-free meats, cheeses, and eggs! Without any of the transportation emissions and packaging waste or costs involved, they will undoubtably carry a lower environmental footprint and often can be found at even cheaper prices than at the supermarket! Do some research to find your local options or try searching here or here.
• Go there (or anywhere else nearby) by bike or on foot! Take advantage of nice weather when you can and walk to your destination the next time you are able, whether it be to the nearby park or the convenience store. Even try walking that extra block or two from your car next time you park somewhere rather than driving around endlessly looking for a slightly closer spot. There are plenty of places where you can find little ways to cut small bits of driving from your routine and add a little fresh air.
• Even better yet, try carpooling for longer distances whenever possible! You would be surprised to find who at work might live closer to your route than you think, and what sorts of new friendships can blossom from a few extra minutes each day getting to know each other and saving gas money and harmful emissions at the same time.
• Start composting and look for other ways to cut down on food waste. Order out less and eat at home more where you can control your portion sizes and make only the amount of food you need. Don’t be afraid to keep and eat leftovers!
• Stay ahead of plastic bag bans and find other small switches for your everyday single-use plastics. Keeping a stash of reusable bags in the car is an easy way to reduce waste, and you would be surprised how many places will give you your morning to-go coffee back in your own reusable mug, and many will even give you a discounted price for doing so! Compostable cutlery, bar soaps & shampoos, washable kitchen cloths, natural sponges, and of course reusable straws... There are countless easy replacements you can make for everyday products in your home that can reduce waste and improve your relationship with our planet. Explore our website to see some of the sustainable products that we offer.
• Look for other places around your home to reduce waste and resource use. Turn your heat down when you go on vacation, and keep a robe or sweater around for when you get cold rather than fussing with the temperature when you are home. Shower rather than bathe, and don’t leave the water in the sink running while you brush your teeth. Rely on the dishwasher (if you have one) rather than hand-washing. Replace old or broken electronics, lightbulbs, or any other household gadgets with more efficient ones. Keep the windows closed when the air conditioner is on, or turn it off and let a nice breeze flow in. There are countless ways in your life you can reduce your footprint, and no matter how small the changes may seem, they will definitely add up.

Charitable or Activist Support

• Donate to an environmental non-profit or activist organization! It's great to spread the word and think about your impact on the Earth, but we all know that money still matters. As we continue to consume resources at rapid rates, so must we also donate our time or money to organizations that fight what impacts this has on our planet & health or work in other ways to protect our natural resources for future generations. Donate some money this Earth Day or look for local events or offices where you can donate your time. Check out our donate page to see some non-profits we at Just Honest donate to and support and check out this website or similar to search for volunteer events near you!
• Tell your local businesses what you think about their harmful policies, or commend their good work! If you've been going to the diner in your town since you were a kid and love their food but hate the fact that they give it to you in styrofoam takeout containers, use this day or month as an excuse or just be frank and tell your server or the owner that you love them but you hate the styrofoam waste and just hope they take that into consideration. If enough people raise their voices they will listen, and many places are taking on such changes on their own accord. Many states or counties are also coming up with formal regulations regarding such containers or other forms of waste. Also don't be afraid to share a kind word to them if they take your advice or do anything else that shows they are minding the mark they leave on the planet!
• Take it a step further and let your local representatives know! Large-scale changes still can start small, and somebody's signature has to be the one that makes it enough to cross someone's desk the first time. Consider your local politician's stance on environmental policies next time you vote, or go to places like change.org to add your signature, or check out groups like Sunrise Movement, Sierra Club, 350.org, EarthJustice, etc.

Notable Business Efforts This Year

• Amazon, Target, and many other business have signed The Climate Pledge vowing to be carbon-neutral by 2040, though Amazon seems to have announced fewer donations and funded tree plantings compared to last year
• Microsoft has previously vowed to be carbon-negative by 2030 and finish removing ay carbon the company ever emitted by 2050
• Netflix is carbon-neutral as of 2022 and previously vowed to cut their emissions in half by 2030
• Apple has announced that all of their products will be carbon-neutral by 2030
• There are many other examples like this, but keep an eye on greenwashing. While such efforts may be helpful, and are definitely better than doing nothing, they are (generally speaking) still marketing tactics and are not even close to being enough to make up for the detrimental effects that the emissions from such huge companies create or the harm that excessive consumerism and wastefulness that they support creates.