26 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day 2026

Apr 16

Happy Earth Day! Let’s celebrate!

I know, it feels hard and also useless to celebrate the planet when many of our governments don’t care and are actively harming the planet. But I’m so glad that you care enough to try. The more of us that care, the more difference we can make. We may not be able to change the world on our own, but we can influence our direct communities.

Here are some ways that I’m going to take eco and civic actions this Earth Month, so I hope you join me! You can do all of these or one of them. Any number of these is a great way to celebrate the Earth and start to take eco action. The goal is to also build habits. If you enjoyed one of these today, try it again tomorrow, the day after, and so on until you build that habit of picking up trash or shopping less, for example. See what habits you can carry through til next Earth Day!

If you feel like these don’t inspire you, check out versions from the past for more inspiration on how to celebrate Earth Day:

22 ways to celebrate the Earth for Earth Day 2022

23 ways to celebrate Earth Week in 2023

24 more ways to celebrate Earth Month in 2024

25 MORE ways to celebrate Earth Month for 2025

Call your reps

Yup, we’re starting big this year! Call your reps and demand that they take eco action instead of sitting idly by. Demand that they personally divest from big oil and stop taking big oil lobbying money…yes, Democrats, too. But how do you call them? You can head to Congress.gov to enter your zip code and find them that way to call about your own personal issue.

You can also try the free 5 Calls app. You input your zip code, and it will provide your reps and their phone numbers for you. They also provide a plethora of scripts to use, many of which revolve around the environment. This takes some of the pressure off of having to make up your own words.

Of course, we’re focusing on the environment today, but keep the 5 Calls app around for future campaigns for the planet and for human rights!

Email your reps

Don’t like phone calls? Give it a try, but double down by sending them an email, too. Again, head to Congress.gov to input your zip code to find the contact page and/or emails for your reps. Speak from your heart or use the 5 Calls scripts to inspire you.

You can also try the Resist Bot tool that connects to your favorite messaging app. Again, you just have to enter some basic information, such as your zip code, so that it can find your reps for you. The way my tool is set up, I get notified of petitions that I can sign or skip. When I click “sign,” it then prompts me to email my reps about that issue. All I have to do is hit the “email” button. The tool writes the email and finds my reps. It makes it so easy!

Send them an upcycled postcard

Looking for more catharsis and some craftivism this Earth Month? Let’s turn trash into political postcards! You’ll just need some thin cardboard/paperboard (not corrugated cardboard), some pens, a measuring device, and some scissors. I have a full tutorial here, but in short:

Cut the cardboard into 4”x6” rectangles
Add lines so that it looks like a postcard
Write your message
Address it (common national-level addresses can be found here)
Stamp it with postcard stamps, they’re cheaper!
And send!

I use current events to inspire me as well as 5 calls scripts. Sometimes I write a ton and other times I keep it short and sweet with something like “DEFUND ICE.” Here are some written examples you can use for inspiration. Happy writing!

Go to your town hall meeting this week

A great way to impact your local community is to get involved with local politics. Go to a town hall meeting this month! I also encourage you to add them to your calendar for the whole year. Make the ones you can and don’t sweat the rest. But now you know when they occur!

You can go and simply listen to the issues on the table. It’s a great way to get to know your local legislators as well as the issues going on. You can also speak during public comment. Maybe you talk about how your town should implement curbside composting measures or do better to pick up trash around town. Whatever is going on locally, make your voice heard!

Register to vote

While we’re doing civic action, let’s register to vote this Earth Month. Already registered? Take 1-2 minutes to ensure you’re still registered. Especially if you vote absentee, it’s always good to check!

Once you’re done with that, go ahead and look up election dates for your region for the rest of the year. Not every vote happens on election day in November! Maybe your state or even town is holding a special election. Mark your calendar so you don’t miss it!

And with the midterms coming up (god willing), start your research now for eco-focused candidates (you may have to vote outside the two-party system) and about legislative issues being voted on so that you show up in November prepared to vote for the planet and in alignment with your morals.

Donate money to an environmental org

If you have the spare funds, consider giving a monetary donation this Earth Month. Many nonprofits make most of their revenue through small donations by a lot of people vs large donations by just a few folks. Even $1-5 matters!

My best advice is to pick an org near you. Maybe that’s your National Park’s partner agency, or a smaller city or county-level park or conservation organization. Do some research and donate according to your values. It could be coastal restoration, litter clean-ups, a group that removes invasive plants, or so forth. It’s also encouraged that once you pick your desired org, continue to give to them time and time again, rather than giving your money to several orgs over your lifetime.

Get outside!

In a similar vein, get yourself outside! I find so much more appreciation for the planet when I bask in her glory with all my senses. A walk around town is enough for me, but you can also seek out a city, state, or national park to enjoy. Hike, sit on the riverbank, swim in the ocean, kayak on a river, whatever makes you feel most connected to the planet.

It’s so good for our physical and mental health to get outside. Learn about your local flora and fauna and how we are all connected to one another. When I realize how vital, say, salmon, are to my local ecosystem, I am encouraged to fight for their protection even more. They allow other critters to thrive in the forest, including acting as plant fertilizer! This ensures that we all have clean air, clean water, and safe places to live and recreate. Every creature is important, go appreciate them all!

Go get your library card

Are you still living without a library card? In 2026?! Go get one, it’s free!

And then, start using it! The more we use our libraries, the more demand there is to keep them funded. And since you’re also registered to vote now, be sure to vote to support these valuable places!

Libraries offer so much more than books:

eBooks and audiobooks right to your phone
Games
Magazines and newspapers
Spaces to gather with community
WIFI and computers
Quiet spaces to work and study
Free park passes (also zoos, aquariums, etc)
Children’s programs
And literally so much more!

Catch me hyping up libraries MORE in this video.

Read an eco-themed book

Now you’re ready to start learning about the planet for FREE by borrowing eco-themed books from the library. Give one a read this month and maybe try to read a few per year! The more we know, the better equipped we can be to fight for the planet.

My full list of recommendations is here, but these are some of my faves:

Anything by Robin Wall Kimmerer, but her best-known work is Braiding Sweetgrass
Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie
The Intersectional Environmentalist by Leah Thomas
Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara
Mutual Aid by Dean Spade
The Day the World Stops Shopping by J B Mackinnon
How to Resist Amazon and Why by Danny Caine

If you want to read WITH me, join my Eco Book Club! We read 1 book per month (ish, sometimes closer to 6-8 weeks) and discuss it via video call on Discord. It’s so fun to build this digital community, inspire one another, and chat about these topics.

Watch an eco documentary

If reading isn’t your speed, watch a documentary! It’s still a great way to get educated. There are so many across different streaming platforms, but let me put you on PBS. They have so many FREE documentaries you can watch right at home, too. I watched one recently about permafrost. It was extremely educational but also anxiety-inducing. Maybe don’t start there. But browse around for free and support our Public Broadcasting Service, vs a huge corporation that is just trying to steal all of our hard-earned money. You can also check to see what your library has on DVD for free rental!

Here is my list of documentary recommendations.

Pick up trash

A super easy way to take care of your direct environment is to pick up trash. But does that truly matter when there is just so much of it? YES!

I always come back to this allegory. It goes something like this:

“It’s low tide, and a person walks upon the beach and sees starfish as far as he possibly can see. They begin to pick one up at a time and gently place it back in the water. Another person walking sees this action and says, ‘Look at all of these starfish, you can’t possibly make a difference.’ The first person picks up another starfish, places it back near the water, and looks to the other person to say, ‘but I made a difference to that one.’”

The point is, don’t discount your small actions. Is it better to leave all of the trash on the ground or pick up what you can? It still makes a difference! That could’ve been the drink rings that tangled a bird. It could’ve been the bag to get stuck on a fox’s head. And so forth. It’s better to do even the smallest amount of good than to do nothing at all.

In 2022, I made it a goal to pick up 22 pieces of trash every day, all Earth Month long. Try a challenge like that to make the impact bigger, and watch my review of that challenge here.

Join a larger volunteer group

If you need someone to guide you or to hold you accountable, volunteer with a group instead of by yourself! Find a cause that means a lot to you: trash clean ups, tree planting, trail work, education, and so forth. Your best bet will likely be to volunteer with your local city, county, state, or national park. Otherwise, check for local conservation organizations, such as a group that regularly does invasive species removal or restoration work.

You should get pretty good results by searching for “volunteer events” + “your city” + “your desired topic.” For example, “tree planting volunteer event Las Vegas.”

This is also a great way to be in touch about future events you can do regularly, build your resume, and make friends!

Do a “no buy” day (or week or month)

Let’s vote with our dollars! One of the most impactful things we can do as individuals is not to spend our money, period. But we do have to buy things to survive. So when we do shop, shop according to our ethics as much as possible. That means shopping small, shopping at eco-conscious brands, and not supporting wasteful companies.

So let’s try not spend any month this Earth Day. Take it a step further and have a “no buy week” or a “no buy month.” These challenges are designed to help you break up with overconsumption. Of course, you buy your necessities: food, bills, medication, gas, etc. But think through all of your purchases. Do you really need that new skein of yarn, or can you use some you already have at home? Do you really need that new set of pens, or does your current set work just fine? Question the overconsumer inside that was so expertly conditioned by this wasteful society. Let’s see if we can become more conscious about our shopping habits!

Do an upcycled craft

If you’re feeling artsy this Earth Day, try making something with things that you already have! Break out that stash of paints, yarns, stickers, and markers, and use other upcycled things in your home like toilet paper tubes, a cereal box, aluminum cans, and so forth. Get creative by using what you have! Maybe your art is earth-themed, or maybe it’s just whatever speaks to you. Art is powerful! It can portray messaging to inspire others, and it can be a great outlet for how you’re feeling about the state of the world. Happy making!

Start your spring garden

I also love that Earth Day is in spring and is the perfect excuse to start that garden…or just a few plants in your window or on your balcony. See if you can grow just one thing this spring. It’s okay to start small! Just let this be your sign to finally try it.

You don’t even need a lot of supplies! I often plant things in trash, like upcycled vegan sour cream containers. I even got seeds last year at my campus’s Earth Day event. The only thing I’ve ever had to buy was soil and maybe the occasional pot secondhand. Let us know how you garden!

Start your compost journey

If that’s too ambitious right now, I urge you to at least try composting this year. It might be easier than you think!

Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of composting methods:

There are SO many ways you can start composting that you can learn about here. Just start! Learn as you go. It’s so important to prevent food waste from going to the landfill. I think this is easily one of the best things we can do for the planet as individuals. Let us know your composting questions below and get started today!

Refresh your recycling knowledge

Similarly, refresh your knowledge on your local recycling rules. Rules change all the time for our recycling systems, and we may just forget. Take this time to check your local rules pasted on your recycling bin or, hopefully, on your recycling services website. Maybe you can recycle something you had previously thrown away or vice versa. It’s super important to recycle correctly. No, recycling won’t save the planet on its own, but it is important to do it and to do it correctly. Of course, the broad system needs a lot of reworking, but we can do our part to make it better by recycling correctly instead of wishcycling.

Go car-free for the day

Another small yet impactful thing we can do is to ditch the car. I know it’s not possible to do it 100% in much of the world. I still own my car, but I can go literally weeks without using it! As much as I can, I’m biking and walking. I do so for the planet but also to save money and to quit giving these wasteful companies my money.

So I’m not asking you to sell your car and become a dedicated biker. But try going car-free for just one day this year, Earth Day. Maybe you can figure out how to work from home. Maybe you learn how easy it is to catch the bus. Perhaps you discover a closer grocery store or cafe you can walk or bike to instead of the one you drive a further distance to. You never know what you may discover when you get out of your routine and explore on your legs!

Go phone-free and build community

While you’re at it, unplug from tech for the day and go into your community! I know we are all feeling the loneliness and helplessness in society right now. How do we connect? How do we build community? Well, your community is outside the four walls that you call home…at least, for now. Once you build community, you can invite them in ;)

For now, get out there! Attend a free event at the library, go volunteer, try a new hobby, and so forth. The key is that you have to be intentional: remember people’s names, exchange numbers, and actually follow up with that person or those people. Make future plans and stick to them. Don’t just say “let’s get coffee sometime” and never follow through. Say “let’s get coffee sometime, I’m free Sunday mornings and this is my favorite cafe!”

Once you do it once, it’s so easy to do it again and again. I now have regular phone-free times during the week where I’m out in my community, making connections, and fostering those relationships. Try it this Earth Day! It’s so important to have people to fight for the planet with.

Get plugged in with local mutual aid orgs

Similarly, check out local mutual aid organizations that can help you in times of need and help you help your neighbors. This may be a local Food Not Bombs chapter or other activist organizations like 50501 or Indivisible. See if you have a local chapter and when/where they meet, and start giving your time!

If you can’t volunteer or donate money, try attending regular meetings to see how else you can get involved and stay in the know. It’s so important to build these networks now before things get worse politically.

Go to a rally, march, or teach-in

Earth Month started with a national march, and they continue every year after! Head out to a march this year or maybe a rally. Some areas also offer teaching opportunities at universities and conference halls. See what you can learn or even teach others about! Last year, I went to a few talks about organizing and building community, and it left me so inspired! Keep your eye out for opportunities put on by your local environmental organizations.

Try a new eco swap or habit

What a perfect excuse to try something new! If you’ve been on the fence about trying a “weird” or just new eco swap or habit, let this be your sign. Try that bidet or make your own reusable tissues out of an old t-shirt. Become aware of your energy usage or install a rain barrel this spring. Do what works for you and your budget.

But nothing says “celebrate the earth” quite like finding a new way to conserve resources! Here are some ideas on swaps to try or habits to try.

Learn a new eco skill

Similarly, learn a new skill this month that can help you reduce waste. Here are a few ideas:

Learn to mend by patching a small hole or adding a button back on a pair of pants
Pick up sourdough making or start smaller by making something new from scratch
Perhaps you can learn how to sew with a machine to make your own clothes
Learn how to do basic maintenance on your car to help it last longer
Try fermenting to make your own kombucha at home
And so many more!

You can try whatever your heart desires to help you save money and waste. Skillshare has a host of courses available for you to learn new skills in any area (not sponsored, I just love the service). And check out this video full of my personal favorite skills I’ve learned thanks to eco living.

Head to the farmers’ market/refill store

If you’ve ever wanted to try going to the farmer’s market or the refill store but you’ve been wary for one reason or another, take this as your sign to just GO! Good news, I also have this video with tips for bulk shopping, and this video for farmers’ market tips. So hopefully now you can go with the knowledge to alleviate any anxieties you may have.

These are both great ways to reduce waste and also try something new! If you hate it, that’s fine, don’t stick with it, but you might as well try! Plus, fresh spring produce is such a lovely reward for trying something new.

Go vegan for the day

Eating vegan is better for the planet. No, I’m not saying we all have to be 100% perfect vegans. In the same way that I think going 100% zero waste is impossible, I think asking every single person to be perfect about a vegan diet is impossible. Use the term “plant-based” if that feels better for you!

I’m just asking that we all strive to consume a little less animal products. Start by trying a fully-vegan day or Earth Day. If you like it, find ways to incorporate that food into your routine. If you didn’t like it, figure out what you can change. Maybe moving forward, you just go vegan breakfasts, one vegan day per week, or eat vegan at home, but have the flexibility when you’re out and about.

Just like with zero waste, every small action we take to reduce animal harm and harm to the planet matters. Let us know how you’ll be doing this one below!

Inspire others and spread the word!

Lastly, encourage others! It’s so great that you care about the planet and want to make eco changes. But it matters even more when more and more people take the above actions today and every day of the year. Share this post, share petitions you see on social media, read a book together with a friend, and lead by example. Let’s all work to make the world a more eco-friendly place, one action and one influence at a time!

I’ll leave you with this, and it’s corny, but treat every day as Earth Day. I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but I hope that we all grow to care about the planet every single day and that we act accordingly. I hope we all make a conscious effort to live a more sustainable life, one day at a time, and truly honor the Earth and try to protect her every day. Afterall, conserving the Earth’s resources only benefits us! You can learn more about why I kinda hate Earth Day as an environmentalist in this video.

Thank you so much for reading along and caring about the planet. Which of these actions are you going to take this year?