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Earth day ideas for kids and adults
Honestly, my thoughts on earth day is that I feel like everyday is earth day. We should not be doing these things just on one day out of the year, we live here, after all.
I challenge you to shift towards these activities one at a time in honor of the mother earth we live on and learn how to do things for it everyday instead of just one day.
Earth day is a great way to teach children how to take care of the earth and protect it from harm.
So I put together this list of thing you and your kids can so together to honor the earth we live on.
According to earthday.org the first day of earth day was in 1970 and over 190 countries engage in earth day every year. That’s over 1 billion people!
🌱 Do the dishes
Ditch the paper plates, cups and utensils. I know its easier and I am always tempted to go that rout too, but just do the dishes instead. Its honestly a waste of paper goods and money anyways.
If you are using foam that is all the more reason to stop! Did you know it takes foam over 1 million years to decompose in landfills! yikes.
So, instead of having to go to the grocery store and spend money on disposable paper goods for the kitchen, get yourself some nice reusable tableware and do the dishes!
🌱 Fix any leaks around the house
Believe it or not you can be wasting GALLONS of water per WEEK with leaky faucets in the home.
You can use something like this to stop any leaks you find.
🌱 Use earth friendly cleaning products
I would suggest getting rid of the products you already have right now, just finish them off.
BUT, go through the products you already have and see which ones you need to restock and instead of using whatever products your using that are NOT earth friendly simply make the switch at the store next time.
For example, instead of using Windex you can switch to Organic Matters 30% Natural Vinegar.+
With that being said you can also make your own cleaning products at home and use cute reusable glass spray bottles like these!
A quick and easy homemade all purpose cleaner recipe is:
- add 1/3 rubbing alcohol into glass bottles mentioned above
- fill another 1/3 with water
- add 30 – 50 drops of your choice in essential oils
- fill the rest of the glass bottle with white vinegar
- shake well
- spray any surface you need to clean and wipe down with a microfiber towel
🌱 Read to your child
Educate yourself and your children with some earth day books!
There are plenty of books to choose from that will help your little one learn about how important it is to take care of the earth we all live on, and who knows mama, maybe you will learn a thing or two from these awesome earth day books.
Best earth day children’s books
🌱 Declutter the toys
I have a tradition with my son a couple of times a year, especially during the christmas holiday, we take the time to evaluate his toys and donate the ones he never plays with anymore.
This is a good idea to get your kids into purging and decluttering at an early age, it will give them the foundation to follow these traditions into adulthood.
My son has a huge toy box and he always forgets what’s even in that thing, so occasionally we dump it out with another box and go through each toy, whatever he doesn’t want anymore goes into the box and whatever he wants to keep goes back into the toybox.
Then, we drop it off at a local donation center in our area. I honestly believe he really finds joy in doing this and it makes it super easy for him to let go of things he no longer uses all the time.
Give it a try with your kids!
🌱 Use reusable bags for groceries
More and more people are adopting this habit because it really is super easy to do. Just keep some reusable bags in your car for the grocery store trips.
You can get reusable bags on amazon that can conveniently be folded and put right into your purse so you never forget them!
You can also put these bags for the grocery store in the side pocket of your car door.
Either way they are made for convenience and great for the planet as you won’t be using the plastic bags anymore.
Those plastic bags are extremely dangerous to the birds and wildlife in out neighborhoods. We want to protect them as they are part of the ecosystem on this planet.
This is a good opportunity to teach your kids why we use reusable grocery bags next time you head to the store with them.
🌱 Use less paper by going digital
If you have an iPad you can download the app GoodNotes and basically never have to sue paper again.
I have goodnotes and I am obsessed with it, I use it to write down ideas for this blog. I used to use a notebook and pen, but since getting my iPad I opted out of using paper all together.
you can even fax and scan things with your phone eliminating the use for paper 100%, there really is no excuse. This is the easiest way to help the planet.
If you don’t have an iPad like this one you can get one for a good deal on Amazon or you can always just use your phone for everything.
🌱 Switch to a zero waste lunch for work and school
Using reusable products for lunch is actually alot of fun!
Yes it requires you to wash them at the end of the day to prep for the next day, but with these adorable products you really can’t complain.
When my son was in preschool I used a cute bento type of box to hold his food, he absolutely loved it and it made the teachers life easier as well.
He also loves mac and cheese and rice (carb kid) so I got him this too.
If you are looking for zero waste stuff for yourself or your husband to bring to work, this lunch box system is perfect for him.
Using a zero waste lunch box system not only cuts down dramatically the use of plastic waste, it saves you tons of money as well!
Let’s skip buying plastic ziplock bags and the individual snacks like these.
Instead we can buy bulk snacks like these and even better/healthier snacks like strawberries and watermelons! It is an initial upfront cost for years worth of savings both financially and the planet!
🌱 Raise awareness
You do not have to march in the streets to spread awareness on earth day.
You can simply put a sign outside your home saying happy earth day, or post on facebook or any social media about it.
Use your platform to spread awareness, tell your friends about it. Share this blog post!
There are many ways to raise awareness for the planet, especially now a days when we have the internet to reach literally millions of people.
🌱 Sign a petition
Did you know you can sign some petitions to advocate to your community about going solar?
You can also easily contact your local representatives to advocate for community solar legislation in your area.
🌱 Go solar
Speaking of advocating for solar energy, you can go solar as well.
I don’t mean the entire house, although if your community is leaning more towards that GO AHEAD its amazing.
BUT, you can also do small things with solar to reduce your electricity use.
Here are some solar alternatives you can switch to using as soon as tomorrow
If you look around online you will see there are plenty of solar alternatives on the market.
🌱 Buy local
Whenever you can, always buy local.
Buying local helps eliminate the need for shipping over time.
I know it may seem like your only one person and how can you shopping local even put a dent in something like that.
Well, it is supply and demand. The more people opt in for buying locally grown produce the less it will be bought at the big chain stores like walmart, therefore causing them to order less because they are not selling as much anymore.
This graph is from mint.intuit.com they broke it down and it shows that more people are opting into buying local from small businesses now, especially since the 2020 pandemic.
They also have these awesome free printables to help you get started with shopping local yourself.
Mint really breaks down the why and how to shop locally, I would really recommend checking this article out.
🌱 Pledge to do one thing
let’s be honest for a minute ok…
Reading about things to do during earth day to help the planet is not going to do anything unless you actually take action.
I don’t expect anyone who reads this to do everything on this list. Although that would be ultimate.
But pledge to do one thing and you are one step closer to saving this precious planet and raising awareness for mother earth, she needs us.
The easiest thing to do right now is to share this post with family and friends to raise awareness and get other to take action for the planet.
Pin this post to Pinterest or share it to any of your other social media accounts.
