Neighborhood or At-Home Activities
- Pick up litter in the neighborhood during a walk (using gloves and staying 6ft apart).
- Order delivery or pickup from a local ocean friendly restaurant (OFR). In doing so, you can support the strength and longevity of ocean friendly restaurants.
- If ordering delivery, request no utensils if you have the option.
- Buy local produce if possible. Many farmers markets are open during the COVID-19 pandemic, and buying their products could help keep the farmers afloat.
- Even when you’re home all day, think about turning off the lights or appliances when you’re not in the room. Continue to unplug outlets when not in use.
- Plant seeds or a tree! You can order potted trees online from the Arbor Day Foundation, or possibly your local nursery or local tree nonprofit. If you live in the City of Los Angeles, City Plants offers free trees for your yard or parkway.
- Build a birdhouse or a bird feeder out of recycled materials, such as an old cardboard box or milk jug
- Some tips for building a recycled birdhouse can be found here: https://www.lushome.com/15-smart-recycling-ideas-making-unique-birdhouses/141768
- Tips for building a recycled bird feeder can be found here: https://www.lifegate.com/people/lifestyle/bird-feeders-recycled-materials
- Recommendations from EarthDay.org themselves!
- Make a commitment to going plant-based, and composting. You can try some non-perishable foods, or plant-based recipes. Try to reduce food waste during this time, and trying composting any leftover foods.
- Try some at-home recipes for natural cleaning products. Nancy Birtwhistle (from the Great British Baking Show) and others have plenty of easy, eco-friendly at-home products you can make while staying at home.
- Have a garden? Try doing a garden exchange via Facbook or Nextdoor.
- You can exchange seeds, wood and dirt by leaving them on someone’s front doorstep, or setting up times to exchange them safely.
- Find more actions for the planet at
- Check out other key tips for being eco-friendly: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/g19851547/earth-day-tips/
Online Support and Learning on Earth Day:
- Follow Earth Day events online, as they move digital
- Join CalRecycle to share tips on how you help the environment while staying at home. Do you recycle, compost, repurpose items, reuse bottles–or something else? Share a picture or video of what you do to help the earth using #HowISavethePlanet and #CalEarthDay50.
- Do one thing for the earth and post a photo or video for #OneThing4Earth video/photo challenge – New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services is encouraging people to record videos or take photos of themselves doing one thing that’s good for the earth in honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The department commissioner shared a video of him adding materials to his compost pile, a very important activity that benefits our planet!
- World War Zero is hosting a series of virtual town halls on Monday, April 20 – Wednesday, April 22, which will feature celebrities, political leaders, activists, and scientists. The town halls will cover the solutions we can implement right now to save our planet and what America’s role should be in both the climate and coronavirus crises.
- The Nelson Institute is presenting a virtual Earth Day conference on Monday, April 20
- Post Carbon Institute’s online course Think Resilience is available for free until Earth Day! Throughout the 22 short video lectures, you’ll learn how we got to this perilous moment in history and how we can develop strategies for tackling the challenges we face.
- Coursera offers numerous free online courses on climate change topics, including: Global Warming I: The Science and Modeling of Climate Change offered by the University of Chicago; Act on Climate: Steps to Individual, Community, and Political Action offered by the University of Michigan; Global Energy and Climate Policy offered by SOAS University of London.
- PBS has compiled a list of 161 science documentaries you can watch right now, no membership required. The list features several environmental documentaries, including: Extreme Realities, hosted and narrated by Matt Damon, which investigates the link between extreme weather, climate change, and threats to our national security.
Games and Kid-Friendly Activities
- Take a virtual trip to an aquarium or national park. This is a great activity to do with restless kids. Choose a venue to e-visit, and have an informative discussion with your kids about conservation
- Visit the Georgia Aquarium: https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/webcam/beluga-whale-webcam/
- Watch the Cincinnati Zoo livestream: https://www.facebook.com/cincinnatizoo/
- Take a virtual trip to Yellowstone National Park, Acadia National Park and more:
- Follow some Bill Nye experiments on earth sciences: https://www.billnye.com/home-demos
- Play earth related board games with your family / roommates. Board games can be a great teaching tool reminding people of the importance of our planet and its resources. Some great games that highlight the climate and our environment are:
- Photosynthesis – a tree-planting strategy game where players take trees through the entire life-cycle, from seedling to full bloom to rebirth, and earn points as their leaves collect energy from the revolving sun’s rays.
- Planet – a unique strategy board game where players compete to create perfect worlds with the ideal conditions for wildlife to flourish. Each player’s board is a 12-sided 3-dimensional planet core and players select landscape tiles representing oceans, deserts, mountains or frozen lands, and arranges them on their planet to create the best ecosystems.
- Evolution: Climate – players adapt their species in a dynamic ecosystem where food is scarce, predators lurk, and the climate can swing between scorching hot and icy cold. Traits like a Hard Shell and Horns can protect your species from Carnivores while a Long Neck will help them get food that others cannot reach. With over 200,000 ways to evolve your species, every game evolves into a different adventure.
- Ecosystem – a science game in which players build ecosystems of wild animals (such as bears, rabbits, foxes, and eagles) and are rewarded for sustainability and diversity.
Happy Earth Day 2020!
Tags: Reserve program & staff
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