This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and while stay-at-home orders will make celebrations a little different this year, there is some encouraging news. A recent headline from The Washington Post reads, “In India, life under coronavirus brings blue skies and clean air.” There are stories of Venice’s canal water looking clearer. And in California, experts say the statewide stay-at-home order has brought about drastic reductions in air pollution and planet-warming emissions.
As a mom in Kansas City, what can I do to help our planet? Well, as I continue to try to throw in lessons for my kids, I asked my 11 and 9-year-old daughters, “what do you think of when I say Earth Day?” Their responses included clean our environment, plant things, make a birdhouse, and don’t throw things out into the street. YES to all of those!
Plant a Tree
If you sign up to get an Arbor Day Foundation membership ($10 for six months), you get 10 FREE trees! You put in your zip code to choose 10 trees that grow well where you live, and they’ll send them to you to plant in your yard. You can also choose to send the trees directly to someone else.
Virtual Activities
The San Diego Zoo is doing a “Virtual Earth Day Celebration”. They have coloring pages you can print, livestreaming cams so you can watch and record wildlife info, a nature challenge activity you can download, and more.
Pick-up Garbage
This is as simple as grabbing a bag and some gloves and picking up litter around your house or neighborhood. There are more than two million people in the Kansas City metro area. Can you imagine if we each just picked up even ONE piece of trash? And of course, there’s an app for that–check out Litterati.
EarthDay.org is full of resources including downloadable images, digital events, action you can take at home, and so much more. You can also check out creative DIY projects to do with your kids (I LOVE bird feeders!).
What will YOUR act of green be?
