Earth Day 2021: How to Celebrate At Home

What is Earth Day?

Earth Day is an event held annually on 22nd April to honour our planet and demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first held in 1970 and has been growing ever since.  

The theme of Earth Day 2021 is ‘Restore Our Earth’ and EARTHDAY.ORG will be hosting a live digital event on 22nd April at 12pm Eastern time. The event will include workshops, panel discussions and special performances, covering natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems.

The Biden Administration has also invited 40 world leaders to a virtual global climate summit which has been planned to begin on 22nd April to coincide with Earth Day. This date will also mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement signing.

How can you celebrate Earth Day at home?

While in-person events have been significant for Earth Days in the past, it is important to stay safe this year as the coronavirus pandemic continues. With that in mind, we look at some ways you can get involved from home or safely outdoors!

Join a virtual event

As we mentioned earlier, EARTHDAY.ORG will be hosting Earth Day Live again this year, which you can join online and listen to the speakers and discussions.

You can also use the Earth Day event map to identify events that are happening in your country, and many of these are happening online so that you can join in safely!

Get involved in an ‘Act of Green’

EARTHDAY.ORG is also encouraging people to take part in ‘Acts of Green’ which they are measuring with an online counter. You can submit your Act of Green on the website and it will be added to the counter. 

Examples include individual actions, such as volunteering or eating plant-based meals, community action such as acting on plastic pollution and tree planting, and civic action such as advocating for climate action at your school, university or place of work.

Make a list of Earth-friendly habits you intend to adopt

A great way to mark Earth Day from your home this year is to take a portion of time to sit down and write out a list of Earth-friendly habits that you want to start or improve for the next year. Then, when Earth Day 2022 rolls around, you can reflect on how you have done.

Although larger action is required from governments and international bodies, our individual actions can make a difference too! Some examples could be limiting your use of single-use plastic, incorporating more plant-based meals into your diet, or choosing to support environmentally-conscious brands.

Related article: 7 Eco-Friendly Resolutions for 2021

Go for a walk or cycle and enjoy your natural environment

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than spending some time outdoors to remind you of just how much you appreciate our planet. This could be a long walk to a favourite local beauty spot, or a cycle to a new place! Just remember to adhere to the coronavirus guidelines in your area!

Spend some time signing key climate petitions or signing up to organisations

One of the most important ways you can help the fight against climate change is through advocacy. If you have spare time this Earth Day, a great way to show your support is by signing up to be a part of key climate-focused organisations, as well as signing petitions to help lobby governments and other important bodies.

Create a community group of likeminded people who want to help the environment

We are having to do so much virtually these days that we’ve all gotten used to it by now! Why not take advantage of the online community spirit to set up a group of like-minded people on your social media platform or forum of choice? You can support one another through worries and concerns, as well as sharing tips on how you are taking environmental action. 

Look at switching your services to greener ones

Switching to a new energy provider or bank are tasks that many of us dread! But, why not use Earth Day 2021 as the motivation to finally get around to this task and make sure the services you are using are in line with your environmental beliefs. 

Start using a new green search engine!

Another simple pledge you can make this Earth Day is to switch your search engine! Most of us rely on Google as our search engine, and while it is no doubt accurate, they do very little to actually help the environment as they are more focused on making profits.

Instead, why not switch to SearchScene? We donate 95% of our profits to global charities such as WWF and Eden Reforestation Projects with a focus on fighting climate change and its effects.