3 Simple Ways To Take Action On Earth Day

Earth Day happens each year on April 22, and it’s a great time to take action to help fight climate change. If you’re looking for ways to make a difference for our planet, here are several ways you can do just that on Earth Day – and really any day!

Key takeaways

* Become and stay informed on Earth-focused issues by checking our our list of TED Talks, podcasts, videos, publications, and websites.
* Support Earth-focused organizations – and check out some of our team’s favorite organizations!
* If you have kids, involve them! Read some Earth-friendly books, volunteer as a family, or create of Earth-focused arts and crafts.
* Subscribe to a community solar farm on EnergySage, and we’ll plant a tree!
* A great way to support Earth Day is to install solar panels on your property – visit the EnergySage Marketplace to compare quotes from local installers.

1. Become and stay informed on Earth-focused issues
One of the best ways to get started is to stay up-to-date on climate change, advocacy, and legislation. We’ve organized a few resources for you:

TED Talks, podcasts, and videos
* The Carbon Copy: this weekly news podcast produced jointly by Canary Media and Post Script Media and hosted by Stephen Lacey helps explain our changing planet through the lens of current events and interviews with industry experts, journalists, and leaders.
* Countdown: a global initiative powered by TED and Future Stewards, this collection of videos seeks to share conversations to help accelerate solutions to the climate crisis.
* Five questions about climate change: these five short videos answer some common questions including explaining what net-zero means and why a small increase in the Earth’s temperature really matters.
* Science Moms: a nonpartisan group of climate scientists and mothers is fighting climate change with “The Science Moms To-Do List,” inspired by Science Moms’ own frustrations around the lack of immediate and aggressive action by elected officials on climate change. They have several short videos showcasing the facts and what’s at stake when it comes to climate change.

Publications and websites
* Climate by BBC News: read ongoing global stories by BBC News.
* Climate Forward: sign up for this email newsletter from The New York Times to get updates in your inbox twice a week on climate change news.
* Climate Hub: also from The New York Times, this collection of free, on-demand video sessions highlights influential leaders joining together with the global community to debate, discuss, and bring to light climate change strategies.
* Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet: If you really like to geek out on climate change, this website by NASA shares headlines from around the world related to climate change and even has a pretty cool real-time data visualization of NASA’s Earth-orbiting satellites and the data they’re collecting on climate change.

2. Support Earth-focused organizations
Many organizations in your area organize clean-ups, tree plantings, or other volunteer events to help celebrate our planet on Earth Day. There are also usually events and donation opportunities all year long, so you can pick the level of support you’re able to provide or find specific initiatives to join. We asked our own EnergySage team to share some of their favorite Earth-friendly organizations to volunteer with and donate to:

> “Protect Our Winters is a nonprofit that I’ve been following and supporting for several years now. It was started by pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones after recognizing the lack of snow and shortened seasons at ski resorts was becoming more commonplace. They’re a climate advocacy group that now consists of dozens of pro outdoor athletes and hundreds of people who love the outdoors. They’ve testified in Congress more recently about the need to act now to combat climate change.”

Mike Condon
> “When I’m not at work, you can find me playing on public lands— climbing in the summer and skiing in the winter. That’s why I support the Access Fund and Protect Our Winters, two organizations that aim to protect access to public lands and advocate for climate policy to protect the places we play.”

Spencer Fields
> “I enjoy kayaking up the Mystic River to the Mystic Lakes, walking and biking on the paths, and growing vegetables in the Medford Community Garden at Veterans Memorial Park. None of this would be possible without the tireless work of The Mystic River Watershed Association. For 50 years, they have been restoring habitats, protecting water quality, building climate resilience, and inspiring youth and the community to actively support the parks and land.”

Jasmin Jata
> “One of my favorite Boston-based nonprofits is Lovin’ Spoonfuls because they focus on hunger relief through food rescue, which has major environmental benefits as well. Keeping food out of landfills is a great way to limit a totally unnecessary source of greenhouse gasses, reduces waste in farming practices since inputs aren’t wasted on unconsumed food, and contributes to closing the hunger gap. I enjoy regularly donating, have volunteered, and raised money for them as a member of their biking team for the 2019 Ride for Food.”

Keith Morency
> “I’ve always had a love and appreciation for the oceans and the animals in it, and Ocean Conservancy is an organization I recently learned about that’s been doing great things to educate on and conserve the oceans for almost 50 years. They focus on various initiatives including protecting the arctic, sustainable fisheries, trash free seas, and more by supporting climate-focused and ocean-friendly legislation, educating communities globally, and encouraging advocacy.”

Ellen Sirull
> “I’m a fan of The Good Food Institute because they have a goal to overhaul global food systems through development of a roadmap for a sustainable, secure, and just protein supply. They do this in various ways, including one initiative where they awarded $4 million in research grants to 21 of the world’s leading scientists to research plant-based and cultivated meat.”

Tom Yakas
Summary of some Earth-focused organizations to support
Here’s a list of the organizations our team shared above as well as some additional areas you can support along with links to donate or help take action today:

Climate equity and environmental justice
Food-focused
Outdoors-focused
General
There are many more organizations doing great work locally near you and around the world to fight climate change. The best thing to do is just start getting involved: donate, reach out, and volunteer. Feel free to share any of your favorite organizations in the comments below as well.

3. Involve your kids in Earth Day
If you have children, there are some easy ways to get your loved ones of all ages involved in Earth Day and Earth-focused activities as well:

Earth Day books
Borrow some Earth-focused books at your local library or purchase some for your home library to help the little ones learn about Earth and how we can help the planet like these:

Family-friendly Earth Day volunteering
Some volunteer organizations have opportunities you can get kids as young as five years old involved in as well – you often just have to reach out to them and ask for kid-friendly options like clean ups that they might have for younger volunteers.

Clean up your neighborhood park
If you can’t find a nearby opportunity your kids can join, you can contact your neighborhood association, school, or others in your community to organize your own local park clean up day. REI has some tips for planning, organizing, and executing your own local clean up.

Earth Day focused crafts
Even if you don’t have local volunteer options for younger kids, you can still use Earth Day to help make it fun to learn about the Earth and how to appreciate our planet! You can get recycled craft ideas from MommyPoppins as well as guides to exploring National Parks to help your kids love the Earth by getting out into nature.

4. Join a community solar farm
Want to help clean up our electric grid and reduce reliance on fossil fuels? Joining a community solar farm is one of the easiest ways to do so!

Simply put, community solar makes it possible for renters and homeowners to “go solar” without installing a single solar panel. Rather than putting equipment on your roof, you can subscribe to a share of a solar farm in your area. As the solar farm produces emission-free electricity for the grid, you’ll receive credits on your monthly electricity bill for this energy and reduce what you owe your utility company. You don’t need to pay anything upfront to join, or sign any long-term contract – all you need is an electric bill!

Visit EnergySage’s Community Solar Marketplace to find an open solar farm near you.

We’ll plant a tree when you sign up for community solar

Here at EnergySage, we‘re passionate about safeguarding our environment and helping people make small steps to work towards a sustainable future. That’s why we’ve teamed up withEden Reforestation Projectsto help restore healthy forests and reduce extreme poverty by employing local people to plant and protect trees in deforested areas.

Now,when you sign up for community solar on EnergySage, we’ll plant a treeto help fight climate change, reverse habitat loss for endangered species, create jobs, and alleviate poverty.

Learn more

Help reduce dependence on fossil fuels with solar panels
If you want to help make your home more Earth-friendly while also saving money on your electricity bills, there’s never been a better time to go solar! Sign up on the EnergySage Marketplace today to get no obligation quotes from local, trusted installers and see how much pollution you can offset by installing solar panels.