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What is Earth Day all about?

Earth Day is a special day reserved for celebrating the planet by doing actions that benefit it. There are many things you can do for the Earth, and the FWC has listed several of them below with some how-to advice under each one. Some are easy, and some are more difficult, but the FWC encourages you to try at least a few of these before or on Earth Day or anytime throughout the year. 

Earth Day Activities

Start a compost bin

Composting is the natural process of recycling organic matter, such as leaves and food scraps, into a valuable fertilizer that can enrich soil and plants. Composting can significantly cut down on the amount of trash in a landfill and reduce the costs and carbon emissions it takes to haul and process those materials. Additionally, composting enriches the soil with nutrients, which reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides. Compost can enhance your garden soil by increasing the soil’s ability to retain moisture. Composting can help sequester carbon, meaning that composting can help remove carbon from the atmosphere. Learn more about composting. Learn about composting during the coronavirus pandemic.

Set up a rainwater collection

Rain water is a vastly under-used natural resource that we often take for granted. Using rain water can save huge amounts of energy as around 45% of all energy use in urban areas is from water pumping and treatment. Your plants will thank you too as rain water is a naturally soft water devoid of chemicals such as chlorine. Learn more about saving and using rainwater

Plant a vegetable garden

There are few at-home activities more rewarding than growing your own vegetables. Aside from tasty salads and side dishes, growing your own vegetables lets you make use of your compost and rainwater collection, avoid using pesticides and chemical fertilizers—yes, organic!, and reduces stormwater runoff because your garden soil, whether in-ground, in a raised bed, or container, absorbs more rainfall. Having a vegetable garden is a great family or neighborhood project. Learn more about Florida vegetable gardening, raised bed gardening, and growing vegetables in containers.

Explore a new park

People looking at park information board

Feeling adventurous, check out a local park.  Florida is home to a wide variety of parks, ranging from city and county parks to state and national parks.  The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission oversees more than 6 million acres of lands established as wildlife management areas or wildlife and environmental areas.  These lands are managed for both conservation and recreation. Learn more about Wildlife Management Areas.  Florida is home to 175 state parks and 9 state trails– learn more about Florida’s State Parks. Additionally, there are 29 National Wildlife Refuges and 11 National Parks in Florida.  Parks provide incredible opportunities to go hiking, kayaking/canoeing, birdwatching, bicycling, and even geocaching.  Take some time to get outdoors and go exploring.

Shop at a local farmer's market

Eating locally grown foods has many benefits for the consumer, grower and the community. When grown locally, the crops are picked at their peak of ripeness versus being harvested early in order to be shipped and distributed to your local retail store. By purchasing locally grown foods you help maintain farmland and green and/or open space in your community. Well-managed farms provide ecosystem services: they conserve fertile soil, protect water sources, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. The farm environment is a patchwork of fields, meadows, woods, ponds and buildings that provide habitat for wildlife in our communities. Overall, if we buy local produce and goods, we can cut down on our food miles (the distance from farm to store) and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions significantly!

Switch to energy-efficient lightbulbs

One of the easiest ways to fight climate change and save money at the same time is to switch to energy efficient light bulbs. Home lighting typically uses about 5% of a homes annual energy use. Switching to energy efficient lightbulbs, while costing more at purchase, use less energy, produce less heat, and last much longer than traditional bulbs. Hence they more than pay for themselves. And not to worry, there is an energy efficient light bulb that can replace just about any traditional bulb. Information on lighting choices.

Plant a tree

Person planting a tree

Planting a tree is a great way to celebrate Earth Day. Trees are beneficial to the environment in numerous ways. They help produce oxygen and filter out pollutants to clean the air. Trees and plants store carbon dioxide throughout their lives, helping slow the gas’s buildup in our atmosphere that has been rapidly warming our planet. In addition, trees also help preserve water levels in the soil. Fruit and shade trees are a good choice when deciding the type of trees to plant. Fruit trees have the bonus of eventually bearing fruit, and as a result providing food for the family, neighbors, and friends. When planted in the right location, shade trees can help keep a home cool and reduce energy costs. For people who do not have a yard that can support a tree, there are other ways to plant a tree in celebration of Earth Day. Many local areas have initiatives in place that call for volunteers to participate in tree planting. Learn about native Florida trees. Try this Tree Benefit Calculator tool.

Pick up trash

People picking up trash on the beach

Litter is an eyesore on the environment and can end up in the water supply, becoming a health and environmental hazard. By picking up litter, people can prevent environmental contamination, the potential poisoning of wild animals, and also ensure that recyclable items are properly taken care of. Removing litter also removes potentially flammable items that could contribute to wildfires. While it is possible to do so by oneself, litter removal will have a greater impact if it is a group undertaking. A family can work together to clean litter from their neighborhood, or a person can set up a group outing for neighbors, church members or other people in the community to clean up the litter in local parks or other areas (keeping in mind covid related safety precautions). Organizing your own cleanup? Tips for clean-up volunteers.

Go birdwatching

Child birdwatching

Birds are amazing animals and not many days go by in our lives where we don’t see at least a few of them flying or hopping around. Birds are some of the best ambassadors from the natural world. There are over 1,100 species in the United States and over 500 species can be seen in Florida. The pursuit of seeing birds can lead to some pretty wonderful places. Along the way, you’ll see and experience countless other natural wonders and become more connected with our beautiful planet. Learn more about birding. There are ways to take your birdwatching to the next level by contributing to citizen science activities. Some examples include: the Great Backyard Bird Count, American Kestrel Partnership, NestWatch, Journey North, and eBird.

eBird is among the world’s largest biodiversity-related science projects, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed annually by eBirders around the world and an average participation growth rate of approximately 20% year over year. The goal of eBird is to gather information in the form of checklists of birds, archive it, and freely share it to power new data-driven approaches to science, conservation and education. eBird data have been used in hundreds of conservation decisions and peer-reviewed papers, thousands of student projects, and help inform bird research worldwide.

Set up birdfeeders

Bird on a bird feeder

A bird feeder gives you the opportunity to observe the wonders of nature, taking a little break from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Birds consume up to 10,000 calories a day (the human equivalent of a 155,000-calorie diet!), so backyard bird feeders are a helpful supplement for wild birds’ ferocious feeding requirements. Birds spend most of their day foraging for food to meet their needs. Bird feeders provide an important and easily accessible food supply for winter birds when other food sources may be limited, a food source along migration routes when birds need additional energy for their journey, and additional food demands for adults and their nestlings during the summer. Changes in the amount and quality of habitat and impacts from a changing climate are decreasing the availability of food sources. Learn more about backyard bird feeding.

Set up a bird house or nest box

Nest box

There are approximately 25 species of birds in Florida that nest in cavities or holes in trees. Some have very specific requirements for their nest cavity, others are quite adaptable and will readily use built nest boxes. Nest sites for cavity nesting birds can be in shorter supply than either food or water. Dead trees that can be ideal for cavities are often removed. If possible (and safe) leave dead trees standing to provide feeding and nesting sites for birds. Properly built bird houses or nest boxes can mimic natural cavities and provide birds with additional nest site locations. Some of the birds that readily use nest boxes include Eastern bluebird, Carolina chickadee, Carolina wren, Southeastern American kestrel, nuthatches, and woodpeckers. Nest box size, opening size, and placement of the nest box vary between species. NestWatch provides information on building nest boxes for a variety of birds. Specific bird box dimensions are provided on this bird box designs and construction tips site.

Set up a bat house

Bat

Florida has 13 species of native bats. Bats are ecologically and economically beneficial. They serve critical roles worldwide as insect pest controllers, pollinators, seed-dispersers and fertilizers. Florida’s bats are insectivorous, meaning they eat insects, including beetles, mosquitoes, moths and other agriculture and garden pests. A single bat can eat hundreds of insects in a night! Florida’s bats are facing many challenges, including loss of natural roosting sites in trees and caves. Climate influences access to food, timing of hibernation, reproduction and development, and rate of energy expenditure (influenced by temperature). Learn more about Florida’s bats and about bat houses in The Bat House Builder’s Handbook.

Plant a pollinator garden

Pollinator plant

Pollinator gardens support the insects that pollinate native plants in Florida’s ecosystems. There is little for pollinators to eat in a yard that is primarily green grass. Adding a garden of native plants provides habitat for declining pollinators to thrive. Pollinator populations have been declining in recent decades due to habitat loss, climate change, certain pesticides and a phenomena called colony collapse disorder that is responsible for bee hives being lost. Learn more on how to select plants to start a pollinator garden, choosing plants for a pollinator garden in Central Florida, or download the pollinator garden toolkit.  

Take your kids on a backyard scavenger hunt

Scavenger hunt list on a clipboard

Kids of all ages can learn about nature and have a great time doing it, right in their own back yards! Spend time with your kids by exploring signs of life and nature in your yard or neighborhood and see what you can find. A scavenger hunt can be a great way to make a game out of exploring the outdoors and learning about nature, and you can find tons of free scavenger hunt templates to get you started. Feel free to customize them to the age/skill level of your children or to likely signs of nature around your area.

Try a plant-based diet

Plate of food

My mom said “Eat your vegetables!” She was mostly correct. It turns out that it is even more correct if vegetables are the centerpiece of your diet—a plant-based diet! It is well established that a plant-based diet is great for health. Learn more about plant-based eating for health.  A plant-based diet also supports significant reductions in C02 and methane—the principle greenhouse gases causing climate change. Learn more about plant-based diets and climate change.  If you are a meat eater, as many of us are, making plants the centerpiece of our diet may seem difficult or uninviting. However, there are many ways to shift your diet to more plant-based meals such as increasing the amount of vegetables on your plate, trying out some of the new plant-based meat substitutes, cooking vegetarian once or twice per week, or making more salad-based meals. Review some tips on how to get started on a plant-based diet. The planet with thank you and so will your health.  The EcoFood Guide provides general information about plant-based diet and climate friendly recipes.

Dissect owl pellets with your kids

Owl

All owls are predators, they eat other animals. Like all birds, owls have no teeth to chew their food. Their food is usually swallowed whole or in large chunks. In the stomach, the indigestible bones, fur and insect exoskeletons are formed into oval-shaped masses, called pellets. These pellets cannot be passed out of the digestive tract, so are instead passed back up and spit out following a meal. The pellets contain valuable clues to what the owl was eating and the habitat in which the owl was hunting. Scientists dissect these pellets to learn more about the owl’s behavior and the complex nature of the food chain and any changes that may be occurring. Owl pellets are not owl droppings/poop – and they do not smell! Owl pellets are available at some local nature centers and at several on-line providers. Learn more about some teaching tips for owl pellet dissection.  It is handy to have a bone identification chart to help identify what the owl has been eating.

Bike to an errand

Bicyclers

You can reduce your carbon footprint and get in some exercise in one fell swoop if you bike to your errands or to visit friends. Don’t have a bike? Most towns have bike shops that sell used bicycles or you can find one through a buy/sell/trade app. Don’t know what roads to ride? You can see what roads have bike lanes in Google maps by going to the map layer menu and turning on “terrain” and “biking".

Go geocaching

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity (think modern day “treasure” hunt), in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches". A typical cache is some type of container, ranging in size from very small (micro-cache) to fairly large that contain items for trading, such as toys or trinkets. After finding the cache and signing the log “book”, the cache must be placed back exactly where the person found it. Geocaching is a great way to learn fun facts about the world – exploring new places, providing both physical and mental challenges while having fun. It is a great way to get the whole family outside and explore new areas near and far. Take the opportunity to CITO (Cache in Trash Out) – pick-up trash along your way to finding geocaches. Learn more about geocaching.

Explore earth science teachers' toolkits

If you’re involved in youth education and outreach, or a parent looking for educational activities to do with your kids at home, you may want to take time to explore one of the many fantastic education toolkits available online. These resources offer everything from coloring sheets, to self-guided videos and tutorials, to lesson plans for activities and games. You can find toolkits focused on many aspects of the earth and natural sciences, targeting ages ranging from k-12. Start by exploring this Earth and Environment Guide from the National Science Foundation, which offers an overview of and links to some of the best educator toolkits around on a wide range of topics.

Write a letter to a decision-maker in support of an earth-friendly policy

It is great that you are interested in contacting a decision-maker about an earth-friendly policy that you care about. Making contact with an elected official can seem intimidating if you have never done so before, but remember, an official’s job is to represent their constituents - meaning you! There are two things you need to do. First, identify your representatives. Second, identify the legislation (also called bills) or issue you care about. This part can be challenging. Bills need to be reintroduced every year and then get a different bill number. You also have to decide if your bill or issue is a Federal bill (US Congress), State bill (State Legislatures), County or City bill (County Commissioners or Mayor/ city council). It is a lot to think about but give it a try. The process is easy once you get the hang of it, and you are participating in our representative democracy.

Reduce use of plastics

Reusable water bottle

Plastic pollution can create big problems for human and ecosystem health. It is estimated that Americans use over 500 million plastic straws every day (Every Day!!). Approximately 120 Billion single use cups and 40 Billion plastic utensils are used every year in the U.S. All these plastics are ending up in our waterways and ocean, causing harm and even death to wildlife. Everyday actions, however, can lessen the problem. There are many non-plastic (reusable) options available for straws and utensils, including stainless steel, glass, bamboo and biodegradable paper. Check-out the Department of Environmental Protections “Skip the Straw” webpage. Tips to lead a plastic-free life. Learn about other simple ways you can act to combat plastic pollution every day.  Check out your personal plastic use, plastic calculator.

Use reusable grocery and produce bags

Why are plastic bags bad, and are paper bags better? Plastic bags don’t biodegrade in the environment and although you can recycle them in a bin at some grocery stores, there are few buyers of recycled plastic bags. In the US, 99% of them end up in landfills. Paper bags are recyclable and will biodegrade but their manufacture takes more energy than reusable bags. You could drive a car a mile for the same amount of gas it takes to manufacture 14 plastic grocery bags. There are lots of places to purchase re-usable bags including right at the checkout line at your grocery. Or you can try making your own no-sew bag.

Install wildlife-friendly lighting

Sea turtle friendly lighting

Lighting pollution is a serious threat to many types of wildlife. Each year, artificial light causes disruption of behavior, injury, and death to thousands of migrating birds, sea turtles and other reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and invertebrates. First and foremost, there is no substitute for naturally dark habitats. Turning off unnecessary lights is the simplest, most effective, and most energy efficient solution to this issue. However, for situations where artificial lighting is absolutely required for human safety and security, there is another solution. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have teamed up to develop the Wildlife Lighting Certification Program. To learn more about the effects of artificial lighting on these animals, go to About Lighting Pollution.

Support native bees

Bee

Native bees are super-pollinators of the garden – for flowers and food. Some reports indicate that nearly 40% of bees are facing extinction today. The culprits behind the dramatic decline include intensive agricultural practices and pesticide use; alien invasive species; diseases and pests; and climate change. Many people are wondering what they can do to help. Fortunately, the best thing you can do is to start local, in your own backyard. Making your garden as bee-friendly as possible is as easy as adding things like native wildflowers and native bee nesting sites, including bee houses. Providing a wide range of flowers in your garden, including many trees and shrubs, will provide a bigger banquet for your bees. Choose natural pest control methods, including netting, garden fleece or mesh barriers and companion plants, and natural weed control techniques such as regular hoeing and mulching. Add a bee house to your garden. Like birdhouses, bee houses (or hotels) provide vital and otherwise missing nesting habitat. They are relatively simple in form, consisting of a birdhouse-like structure containing a series of exposed, reed-like tubes that the bees can lay their eggs in.

Get your kids involved in gardening

Gardening with your children is a great activity that can provide lessons about where our food comes from, the science of how a seed turns into a plant, and connect them to nature while they learn about the insects and other creatures that live in the garden. As a bonus, some kids may be more likely to try a new vegetable if they helped to grow it themselves. You can do something as simple as growing a bean plant to something more complex like planning and planting a spring garden. Or try a fun project like building a garden hideaway out of sunflowers or beans on a trellis. Tips on gardening with kids. For some ideas on fun planting activities, check out these 6 simple garden projects for kids.

Use water-saving methods in your garden

Use appropriate watering schedule for your garden. Some tips include: Don’t water often, water deeply – this encourages roots to grow down, wet the soil to at least 6 inches down every 10 days in normal weather, more frequently in hotter weather; look for “indicator” plants, those that have droop leaves are a good cue that it is time to water; avoid mid-day watering to reduce amount of water evaporated, best time to water is in the morning so that the foliage will dry early and quickly to minimize disease risk; water at the plants’ roots and avoiding wetting the plants’ leaves, use soaker hoses and drip irrigation rather than sprinklers – sprinklers can waste a lot of water on non-targeted areas. Use mulch to slow the evaporation of water from the soil. Mulch materials such as straw, bark, pine needles or leaf mulch work well. It takes 1 inch of water 8 times longer to evaporate from mulched soil than from bare soil. Other benefits of mulch included moderating soil temperature and reducing weeds. Remove weeds from your garden, this prevents them from competing with your garden plans for the available soil moisture.

Learn food preservation techniques

Learning how to safely preserve foods at home can help you reap the rewards of a successful garden or a bulk shopping spree at the local farmers market. Food preservation reduces food waste and can provide you with seasonal food items year-round. Food preservation can take many forms, such as canning, pickling, drying and freezing. Which technique to use can depend on the type of food and personal preference. to enjoy fruits and vegetables year-round and minimize your food waste. Check out The National Center for Home Food Preservation for information and techniques.

Measure your "foodprint"

Plate of food

Our food system is rapidly deteriorating the planet, and in its current form, we will not be able to feed the over 9 billion people inhabiting Earth by 2050. Our growing population is pushing food security to the edge, and what we’re eating is pushing the planet to the breaking point on climate change and deforestation.  The good news: our food can be part of the solution to climate change!  Learn more about our food’s impact.

A foodprint measures the environmental impacts associated with the growing, producing, transporting, and storing of our food— from the natural resources consumed to the pollution produced to the greenhouse gases emitted. While we should all be working to reduce our foodprints, there are many factors, including access, affordability, health and culture that help shape our decisions about what we eat. There is not one prescribed diet for everyone. Check out this foodprint calculator. You may also consider that harvesting local game also reduces our burden on the food system.

Learn about options for green power

Solar panel on a dock

Consumer demand for renewable energy sources is one of the most immediate actions you can take to lower your carbon footprint and restore our earth. As the cost of constructing renewable energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal decreases, renewable energy is now an economical option for utilities. Wouldn’t you be happier knowing that when you flip the light switch at home that electricity is flowing from a solar panel or wind turbine? It’s not “alternative” energy — it’s better energy. Help drive the demand for clean, renewable energy. Learn more about green power.

Replace pesticides with natural options

Gardeners in tune with nature really shouldn’t have to use chemical pesticides or weed killers. These unnatural controls both directly and indirectly impact beneficial wildlife, disrupting the food chain, depleting populations of pollinators and pest predators as well as pests, and thereby locking the gardener into a dependency on further chemicals. We need pollinators to ensure the persistence of our crop yields and ensure healthy sustainable ecosystems now and in the future. Help protect pollinators by going pesticide-free! Many gardeners have learned that promoting the presence of beneficial insects and other animals can keep the level of pests down so that they can easily be managed by hand. There are also many natural alternatives to commercial pesticides. Learn more natural products for managing garden pests.

Go paperless

Pine trees

Reducing the use of paper can reduce air and waste pollution, save water, and prevent deforestation. Paper consumption has tripled since 1960 and the US alone generates 85 million tons of paper into the waste stream. In the US alone, 68 million trees are cut down just to make enough paper for a year. Turning a single tree into 17 reams of paper results in around 110 lbs of C02 being released into the atmosphere. The average American receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year, and almost 50% of it winds up unopened in a landfill. Some quick and easy ways to go paperless at home: remove yourself from mailing lists (junk mail), unsubscribe to catalogs, enroll in electronic banking, pay bills online, start recycling, digitize your documents, create a digital signature (sign document digitally rather than printing them out to sign), cancel magazine subscriptions you no longer read or sign-up for the on-line version, buy recycled paper products, use reusable fabric alternatives instead of paper (rags, cloths instead of paper towels), or switch to an e-reader.

Use earth-friendly cleaning products

Cleaning products are necessary for maintaining healthy conditions in the home by removing dust, allergens, and infectious agents. However, it is important to be aware that the cleaning products themselves can present health and environmental concerns. There are many opportunities to select products that are effective yet safer for your health and the environment. Check out the Safer Choice program to learn more about how to identify “eco-safe” products. Learn more about green cleaning products.

Reduce your carbon footprint

Understanding what you, personally, can do to reduce the amount of carbon you contribute to climate change can seem insurmountable. However, there is good news. There are many free tools you can use to estimate how much carbon your life style is releasing. Even better, you can explore actions you can take and use the calculator to see how much reduction in carbon such changes to your lifestyle will make. Check out this carbon footprint calculator.  Now go try it out and help the planet!

Go fishing

People catching a fish

Recreational fishing is a powerful tool for both sustainable management of resources and for economic development.  Florida's freshwater fisheries comprise 3 million acres of lakes, ponds and reservoirs, and approximately 12,000 miles of fishable rivers, streams and canals. There are many ways to learn more about fishing in Florida’s lakes and rivers; fishing forecasts, fish identification, trophy catch program, fishing regulations, and freshwater fishing in Florida.   Florida is not only rich in freshwater fishing opportunities but also in saltwater fishing.  Florida has the second-longest coastline in the Us (second only to Alaska). Learn more about saltwater fishing; where to fish, how to saltwater fish, fish handling, fish identification, and saltwater fishing in Florida. While you are out on or near the water, help clean-up our aquatic environments, learn more on FWC’s “Stash the Trash” page. If you have a great day out on the water, try your hand at preparing a fresh-caught meal.