Earth Day Ideas

Celebrating Earth Day

Celebrate Earth Day — April 22, 2016

While I don't celebrate earth day that doesn't mean you can't. I don't celebrate earth day because taking care of the earth should be something we do everyday. It's where we live! Sometimes just making small choices can make a huge difference. Recycle whenever you can. The earth is our home, let's keep it clean.

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Celebrating Earth Day

by: Fran Wisniewski
Fran's World of Discovery

Did you know that Earth Day is the second largest non-religious holiday celebrated in 175 countries around the world?

The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970 and 20 million people celebrated the event. Because of it's great success in the United States, a string of important events were set into motion:

  1. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) was established in 1970
  2. The Clean Air Act was amended in 1970, which set national air quality, auto emissions and air pollution standards
  3. The Endangered Species Act was amended in 1973 to benefit threatened and endangered fish, wildlife and plants
  4. The Safe Drinking Water Act was passed in 1974
  5. Water Standards and Regulations EPA protects public health by implementing the SDWA

While ecological issues were becoming more important to the American people in the 1960s, the first Earth Day encouraged many more people to start paying attention to environmental issues, and this helped to make positive changes.

Helping the Earth

Help make the Earth a cleaner place by reducing the amount of trash you make each day. You can do this by reusing or recycling materials in creative ways. The following activities will help you to bring new life to something you once thought unwanted. As a bonus, you'll be doing something really good for the environment!

Compost

Earth Day Facts

  • Every ton of paper that is recycled saves 17 trees
  • The energy we save when we recycle one glass bottle is enough to light a light bulb for four hours
  • Most families throw away about 88 pounds of plastic every year
  • 1/3 of all water is used to flush the toilet.

Learn how to compost and in a few months you can turn your fresh fruit and vegetable scraps, into a rich nutritious soil that you can grow your own plants in. Nothing edible should ever end up the landfill.

Tip: Save the vegetable seeds, dry them out, and plant them in the new soil!

Reusing Plastic

Did you know that it can take up to 100 years for some plastics to break down in the landfill, while other plastics won't decompose at all? When plastics are not disposed of properly, they can cause a lot of damage. Reusing plastic bottles and containers is a great way to help the environment out!

Recycling is for the Birds!

Bird feeders can be made out of plastic soda bottles and other recycled materials. Bird houses can be made out of recyled materials for some fun looks.

Ice Bottle

Earth Day Fun & Facts

Are you going out for the day? Put water in a plastic bottle and freeze it over night, in the morning you'll have a terrific ice pack to keep your lunch cold. As the water defrosts, you'll have a nice cold drink on a hot day!

Note: Plastic bottles can be washed out and reused as long as they have never contained a poisonous substance.

Find a new use for plastic containers

Plastic containers can be reused to store small toys, art supplies, building sets and more.

Wash the container out, remove labels if possible, scruff up the outside with sandpaper and paint with a non-toxic acrylic paint. Decoupage the box with pictures from a magazine or with foam stickers and you'll have a one of a kind storage container!

Fun ways to reuse cardboard

Cardboard cartons and food boxes are great for craft projects, making patterns, game boards and more! So, before you throw away that cardboard, take a minute to find another use for it!

Fantasy and Fun

X-Large cardboard boxes can be made into puppet theaters, space ships, houses, tunnels and more. Break out the craft supplies and let your child's imagination go wild!

Unique Storage

Small shipping boxes can be reused to make one-of-a-kind storage boxes.

You'll need: A box cutter, scissors, construction paper, non-toxic paint, markers, stickers and other craft supplies.

What to do: After an adult cuts off the flaps, kids can paint the box and then personalize it with their craft supplies.

Magazine Holder

Does your child have a favorite magazine subscription? Make a convenient storage place for a year's worth of magazines with a large cereal box!

World.org has a recycling database that will give you many more ideas for reusing everyday items.

Earth Day Resources:

Online Resources:

Book Resources:

Related Articles:

Happy Earth Day!

Posted February 19, 2016