We will soon celebrate the 50th annual Earth Day in America. The first earth day, April 22, 1970, was enacted to promote consciousness about the state of our planet. In 1990, the celebration of Earth Day went global with 141 different countries joining the effort in being mindful residents of Planet Earth.
What started out as a “hippy holiday” is now widely acknowledged as the largest observation of being Earth conscious in the world. For the 50th anniversary, we have compiled a list of simple ways to celebrate and teach your family how to love our planet just a little bit more.
Here are 50 activities to celebrate Earth Day:
- Read the history of Earth Day with your family.
- Go meatless for a day.
- Walk the neighborhood with a trash bag and pick up any trash.
- Double your dinner recipe and take half to a neighbor. This will save energy with only one house doing the cooking!
- Have a fashion show with costumes made out of recyclable materials.
- Plant some flowers.
- Take a walk as a family and talk about your favorite parts of being outside.
- Lay on a blanket and see if you can make out any shapes in the clouds.
- Consider turning off the lights and opening up the windows for a couple hours during the day.
- Throw out some birdseed in your yard.
- Go on an Earth Day scavenger hunt.
- Practice letters and numbers in the dirt, instead of using paper.
- Learn how to compost.
- Visit the Texas A&M Agricultural Research Center, located in Richardson.
- Enjoy some Earth Day jokes.
- Enjoy yoga outdoors.
- Use lower temperature on your water sources at home for the day.
- Pack some reusable shopping bags in the car for your next grocery trip.
- Have a “NO TV” day. (This one seems impossible!)
- Refuse single use straws. When eating out, simply let them know you don’t need a straw today. (I love these reusable straws, by the way.)
- Carpool for the day.
- Attempt to be zero waste. Is there any trash that can be made into a craft?
- Do a book share with neighbors. (Trade those you are done reading with some you may not have already. This cuts down on the purchases of new books and promotes being a friendly neighbor!)
- Recycle! (Assuming you aren’t already.)
- Consider taking the DART to work instead of driving.
- Pass out seed packs to neighbors or friends.
- Gather leaves from outside and compare and contrast them together.
- Enjoy an Earth Day book with your littles.
- Donate books, puzzles, and toys to a local charity.
- Ask neighbors if they compost and what you can save at home to add to it. (Usually any scraps from the kitchen except meat, seafood, and dairy.)
- Check out official Earth Day activities in your area.
- Make bookmarks out of used paper products.
- Use old newspaper as wrapping paper.
- Eliminate single-use bottled water and get every family member their own reusable water bottle.
- Build a nature scene out of LEGO.
- Print two-sided if printing is necessary.
- When ordering takeout, consider restaurants that use reusable food containers.
- Consider not running the dishwasher or washing machine for the day.
- Take a recycling quiz.
- Make a bug hotel.
- Watch the Planet Earth documentary on Netflix. (Assuming you can’t make it a “NO TV” day.)
- Take some binoculars outside and be a bird watcher.
- Go outside and see how many different colors you can see.
- Eat those leftovers in the fridge instead of eating out.
- Visit a nature preserve.
- Consider shopping small businesses over large chains.
- Save water by skipping the nightly bathtime.
- Talk to your friends and neighbors about your favorite parts of being earth-conscious.
- Cut old t-shirts into rags or have them made into a t-shirt quilt.
- Post your efforts on social media to inspire others!
