5 ways to get your family involved for Earth Day

Did you know that Earth Day is on the 22nd April?

Earth Day is celebrated globally, with the theme this year being ‘protect our species’. It’s an opportunity to reflect on how we can help our planet, and kickstart some environmentally friendly lifestyle changes.

To ensure the protection of our planet in the future, it’s essential that we educate children on risks to the environment, and how they can protect it. If you’d like to get your whole family involved to celebrate Earth Day this year, here are a few ideas:

Start conversations

Use Earth Day as an opportunity to start conversations with your children about the environment, and why we should protect it. Explain the simple ways we can have an impact, such as not leaving taps running, or turning off lights when you leave a room.

Ditch single use plastics

Single-use plastics are incredibly damaging to the environment. Thankfully, many countries are now introducing policies to reduce consumption, such as regulating plastic bag use. You could use Earth Day this year to invest in cutting down your single-use plastic consumption. Buying reusable water bottles, coffee cups and grocery bags can be a great place to start.

Plant a tree

Many organizations run tree planting events for Earth Day as a way to promote reforestation, for example, here in Vancouver there is a tree planting event in Stanley Park hosted by One Tree Planted. Planting trees is a great activity to get your family outside and to reconnect with nature. It’s also a great opportunity to educate children about trees, and how deforestation is a risk to the planet.

Eat vegetarian

Have you heard of  ‘Meatless Monday’? There are a number of reasons why eating vegetarian has a positive impact on the planet. The production of vegetarian food produces less carbon emissions than meat production, and it also uses considerably less water. By eating vegetarian for just one day a week with your family, you can have a positive impact on the environment. Why not use Earth Day to kickstart a new Meatless Monday routine?

Give to an environmental charity

If you care about protecting the environment and want to support an organization that works to take care of the planet, you could consider giving to one of the many environmental charities in Canada. According to Network for Good’s donation data, the average recurring donor will give 42% more in one year than those who give one-time gifts. This Earth Day, you could start a recurring donation into your Impact Account, to ensure you have the greatest impact. Charitable Impact is an online giving platform that helps you to create the change you’d like to see in the world. You can sign up for a free Impact Account to start giving to the causes that matter most to you.

Do you have plans to celebrate Earth Day? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected].