What to Know About Earth Day 2020

April 21, 2020

On Earth Day 2020, clean up some litter, enjoy the scent of the fresh air, appreciate companionship with nature, or go plant a tree. Walk through the woods to find fragrant wildflowers and beautiful birds building nests. It doesn't matter what you do, just get outdoors (while following all the Covid-19 guidelines, of course).

Each year the Earth Day Network, which is the original Earth Day organizer, chooses an environmental priority for engaging the global public. This year’s theme ― climate action.

The huge challenges — but also the wide range of opportunities — of taking efforts on climate change have discerned the problem as being the most challenging topic for this year's 50th anniversary year for Earth Day. By the end of the year 2020, it's expected nations will increase their national dedication to climate change as per the 2015 Paris Agreement. Therefore, now is the time for citizens to call for greater motivation and action towards tackling the climate crisis.

This April 22, 2020, is Earth Day, and marks 50 years of its existence.

April 22, 1970 was the first Earth Day. Raising awareness around our role in the protection of our natural planet was the idea behind Earth Day.

While it comes as a surprise, many individuals weren't aware of some serious environmental problems, such as:

• Toxic dumps
• Air pollution
• Loss of wilderness
• Pesticides

Earth day began as a political movement, but these days it has turned into a popular day for a lot of communities to plant trees, clean up litter, purchase eco-friendly goods, and simply reflect on nature.

How Can You Celebrate Earth Day?

Whether you're searching for ways of becoming involved, or you're a dedicated activist, you might be hoping to find an Earth Day event for you, including rallies, cleanups, and teach-ins.

However, due to COVID-19, many traditional events will be cancelled. But, this doesn't mean you can't find digital events to contribute to the cause. In fact, Earth Day is relocating to the Internet this year, and the 50th anniversary of Earth Day events will be taking place online.

Because of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, it's encouraged you rise up, but do so responsibly and safely. And, in a lot of cases, this will mean you will use your voice online to drive action instead of in person.

Here are some digital events you might want to look into:

1. Register and attend Digital Earth Day Events.

You can find and register for digital events right from the Earth Day website.

2. Use Earth Day Hashtags

When you're having conversations across various online platforms to keep track of the worldwide Earth Day, you'll want to use the hashtags #EarthRise and #EarthDay2020.

3. Follow Earth Day Network on Social Media

You can follow Earth Day Network through social media (@earthdaynetwork) to get access to live coverage. Groups and individuals can participate in online environment-related virtual protests, teach-ins, and social media campaign.

4. Join EARTHRISE

The Earth Day Network, on Earth Day itself, is putting together 24 hours of  EARTHRISE ("global digital mobilization") after the popular photo of Earth from space where millions of people were inspired to campaign for the initial 1970 Earth Day.

COVID-19 reminds people of what's at stake when fighting for the planet. The current state (a world where extreme weather events and pandemics span the planet) will stay the same, and become the new normal if change isn't demanded.

Participants are asked to:

• Have a voice for the planet
• Educate others about the significance of caring for the planet
• Contact their representatives
• Promote environmental policies

The Earth Day Network is also putting together 24 actions you participate in at home, which will include one activity for each hour during the day.

5. Celebrate Earth Hour

Earth Hour is an event that is encouraging you to participate in fighting climate change. But, because of the coronavirus pandemic, it will look a bit different in 2020.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which normally puts the event together, is advising you to celebrate Earth Hour digitally on Saturday.

WWF is offering many ways for you to participate online, including:

• Switching off at home for an hour: Turn your non-essential lights off. Camp out in the backyard, or play board games by candlelight - be creative.
• Signing the "Voice for the Planet" petition: this will allow leaders to know you're demanding political action for combating climate change.
• Tuning in to an on-the-night livestream: Throughout the day, WWF will be providing a few live streamed events.

Earth Hour will be taking place at 8:30 PM local time.

6. Be a Citizen Scientist

By becoming a citizen scientist, you can help to create the world's most transparent and accessible citizen science database portal around.

You can download the app to do your part in collecting information on air quality and plastic pollution. The Earth Challenge 2020 mobile app, as of April 1, is now available at both Apple and Android app stores.

This information will be part of:

• Earth Challenge 2020
• The U.S. Department of State's Eco-Capitals Forum
• Earth Day Network's joint initiative
• The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

This database will provide over a billion data points that combine data submitted through the app with existing citizen scientist projects. The challenge's priorities were crowd sourced globally in 2017, which called for "the most essential questions in environmental and human health."

There were six focus areas which included:

• Air quality
• Plastics
• Water quality
• Climate
• Insects
• Food security

The challenge will start with air quality and plastics data, and move on to the other areas throughout the 2020 year.

There’s so much you can do to help protect, preserve, and restore our planet not only on Earth Day, but every day.

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