Earth Day 2020: ‘It’s not a day, it’s a movement!’

By Karen Elias 

2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in the U.S.  This month, groups across the region, and across the world, were hoping to host a multitude of outdoor activities in honor of our planet — until the coronavirus forced their cancellation.  But a cursory look at the Internet promises that a major global event will take place across our digital platforms from April 22nd to 24th. The three-day mobilization to address the climate emergency will include teach-ins, musical performances, community building, story-telling, voter registration, and multiple opportunities for engagement.

On the first-ever Digital Earth Day, whose theme is “climate action,” sponsors are hoping to harness the power of our collective voices to find new ways to build momentum for transformative action.  The past several weeks have demonstrated that we’re capable of mobilizing our resources, on a large scale, and modifying our own behaviors, on a more personal level, to meet a life-threatening challenge head-on.  Paying attention to how we are working to defeat the virus will give us resources for defeating climate change. Instead of retreating into “business as usual” as the virus recedes, it will be important to find ways to direct the same urgency of response to the climate crisis.  As we’ve seen with the coronavirus response, the faster we mobilize for action, the less we will suffer. Taking action now will mean that many of the consequences of climate heating could be forestalled — less drastic sea level rise and fewer food and water shortages, natural disasters, and societal upheaval.  Like the virus, climate change is to many of us a still-invisible threat, but its consequences are already becoming apparent across the planet. This is a time for us to recognize that we belong to one interconnected family. Acting now will have dramatic positive, long-term effects, ensuring a healthier, more sustainable planet for all of earth’s children. 

Here are two links you can follow for Earth Day events: www.earthday.org and  www.earthdaylive2020.org/.

Earth Day Activities

Many of us are tempted, during this outbreak, to maintain our sense of safety by sitting at home attached to our electronic devices.  Though Earth Day resources will abound online, it’s important to translate our commitment into action in our daily lives. Here are some suggestions for practical ways you can honor the earth from the safety of your own home:

• Start seeds on your window sill.  Use the bottoms of plastic containers or empty cans.  Fill with potting soil and plant seeds according to directions on the pack.  Young plants can eventually be transplanted to larger pots or to your garden plot.
• Collect coffee grounds and food scraps and start a compost pile.  Here are directions from Mother Earth News.
• Clean out your basement or closet.  Make new clothes out of things you’ll never wear again.
• Perform a household energy audit.  Look for devices that are left on 24/7.  If you turn these off when not in use, you could save considerably on your yearly energy bill.  Replace old light bulbs with more efficient ones. Look for solar-powered porch or entryway lights that you can install yourself.
• Hold a small clean-up on your own property or pick up trash while walking in your neighborhood. (Be sure to not touch your face and wash your hands promptly upon returning indoors.)
• Check out teaching resources that will help incorporate earth science into your home schooling or at-home learning.  Learn more here.
• Become a member of — or start! — an online Environmental Book Club.  The National Resources Defense Council offers these suggestions:  Bangkok Wakes to Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad; Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard; Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
• Vote the Earth: Examine the environmental platforms of the candidates and demand that they create workable long-term plans for addressing climate change.

Pennsylvania’s Parks

But what about those of us who are accustomed to more vigorous exercise routines and who are beginning to suffer from Covid-19 cabin fever?  Experts advise getting out while, at the same time, making the health of ourselves and others our first priority.

Pennsylvania’s award-winning parks are tempting destinations, especially if they fall within our particular region.  But in response to the coronavirus threat, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources made the difficult decision to close Pennsylvania’s parks, at least through the month of April.  This means that, though trails will be open, buildings will be closed to public access, and public programming and volunteering will not be permitted. 

Marci Mowery, President of The Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, cautions all visitors “to be respectful of our natural places and remove any waste or refuse you may bring with you, use the bathroom before you leave home, and — in short — exercise patience, good judgment, and grace in the face of what is for all of us an unexpected interruption to Spring 2020.”

What might seem like annoying sacrifices, become — when we look at the big picture — ways to practice being more aware of our collective imprint on the planet.  Let’s work on transforming a misfortune into a huge opportunity and mark Earth Day 2020 as the year we turned it around.