A RUNDOWN OF EARTH DAY 2020 EVENTS

Today is Earth Day, an annual event that is meant to celebrate our planet, raise awareness of the challenges we face, and provide hope and inspiration for the future. Right about now, we could sure use a healthy dose of all of those things.

Typically, this day would be filled with some large gatherings held in different places all over the world. Some of those gatherings would be protests over how we treat our planet, others would be crowds that have come together to share common goals or work towards achieving important things.

This year of course, there will be no crowds. But that doesn’t mean that Earth Day will pass without anyone noticing. Quite the contrary in fact, as there are a lot of events, activities, and other things happening—from a variety of organizations— that still carry the spirit of what this day is all about. Here’s a rundown of a few.

Nat Geo Looks at the History of Earth Day: It has been 50 years since the first Earth Day. What have we achieved over that span and what have we failed to do to protect our world over the past half-century? National Geographic takes a look at the history and legacy of the Earth Day movement over its first five decades.
5 Simple Things You Can do to Help the Planet: It may seem like there isn’t much that we can do as individuals to help make the Earth a better place, but Men’s Journal has shared a list of five simple things you can do to make a difference today.
How to Celebrate Earth Day Online: There will be more virtual events for Earth Day 2020 than ever before. Tech website The Verge tells you how to celebrate the day online.
Earth Day 2020 Still Matters: Just because a global pandemic is making life rough right now, that doesn’t mean we can’t still make this Earth Day Matter. In a moving essay, Outside magazine tells us how.
Apple Celebrates Earth Day on the App Store: Fire up the App Store on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac today and you’ll find a number of apps that were specifically chosen to help commemorate the day. Those include games to keep you occupied, documentaries that are worth watching, software to help you around the house in these odd times. 9to5 Mac has the rundown.
We Don’t Have Time To Waste: An organization called We Don’t Have Time is holding live key note addresses, discussions, and presentations all week long, with a focus on climate change and global warming.
Protect Our Winter Launches New Video Interview Series: Protect Our Winters has been working to halt climate change and global warming for years now and for Earth Day 2020 POW will launch a new series of live interviews called the “Outdoor State of Mind Series.” Those interviews will include movers and shakers in the outdoor space with Tommy Caldwell and Jeremy Jones first on the schedule.
Izaak Walton League Launches Citizen Scientist Initiative: Want to do your part on Earth Day? The Izaak Walton League is launching a Stream Selfie blitz by asking ordinary people like you and me to survey the health and condition of their local streams and record their findings online.
Climate Neutral Certifies 70 Companies: Independent non-profit organization Climate Neutral, which was formed to help organizations reduce their impact on the environment, has announced that it has now certified more than 70 brands who have adopted new goals and procedures in order to reduce emissions and combat climate change.
Arc’Teryx Joins Together We Can: Gear manufacturer Arc’Teryx has announced that it has officially joined the Together We Can: Climate Action Campaign, which encourages everyone to choose at least one thing that they will personally do to reduce our impact on planet. For Arc’Teryx, that action is to reduce the amount of emissions that the company creates by 65% over the next decade.
Reduce Your Impact on the Planet Through Recycling: Most of us probably do at least some form of recycling in our daily lives, but on Earth Day the International Bottled Water Association—which produces a lot of single-use plastic bottles each year—is reminding us to recycle those bottles to help lower our impact on the planet. Surprisingly enough, plastic bottles have a lower impact on the environment than you might think when compared to some other containers.
Go On A Virtual Safari: Nat Geo isn’t just helping educate us about the history of Earth Day, it’s offering up some tips on how to celebrate while under quarantine as well. One idea? Why not got on a neighborhood safari with the family?
Helmet Manufacture Thousand Launches Climate Collection: Bike helmet manufacturer Thousand has announced its Climate Collection, which is a line of helmets that are made to be good for the planet. The new helmets went on sale earlier in the week with $10 from each sale going directly to 1% for the Planet. The limited edition models come in colors that are inspired from hues that are found in nature and deliver high-quality protection for riders, while still doing good at the sometime.
Osprey Offers Sustainable Bags and Packs: Everyday is Earth Day at Osprey, which has had a commitment to protecting the environment for years. Case in point, the company’s new new line of eco-friendly Arcane and Archeon bags are made using fabrics created from recycled plastic bottles.
11th Hour Ocean Racing Announces $250K Grant: Nowhere is the threat to the Earth more evident than on the oceans, where plastics, warming temperatures, and other threats are having a dramatic impact. To help combat those changes, 11th Hour Racing is giving $250,000 to support Imagine H2O’s Urban Water Challenge. This program was designed to spotlight the need for resilience when it comes to coastal communities and how they deal with limited supplies of water.
American Bird Conservancy is Planting Trees: For the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the American Bird Conservancy is planting yet more trees. The ABC has already planted more than 6 million plants and trees, but for every donation it receives today it will plan another in the name of the person making that donation.
Custer State Park Welcomes First Baby Bison of the Season: Also just in time for Earth Day, the crew at Custer State Park in South Dakota have shared video footage from the first baby bison to be born there his year.

I’ll continue to update this post throughout the day as more Earth Day events and activities unfold.

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Kraig Becker

Kraig is an outdoor and adventure travel writer based in Nashville, TN. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to numerous online and print outlets, including Popular Mechanics, Gear Junkie, Outside Online, National Geographic, Digital Trends, Business Insider, TripSavvy, about.com, and of course The Adventure Blog.