A Guide to Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day

This Wednesday, April 22, is the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. Started in 1970, Earth Day serves as a global celebration and day of action, learning and appreciation for our environment. Earth Day is credited with starting the modern environmental movement and the first Earth Day’s efforts launched the Clean Water, Clean Air and Endangered Species Acts.

Even though we are apart, we can still celebrate together! Visit the sustainNU Earth Month page to learn how you can take action with our Northwestern community. In honor of Earth Day being a movement celebrated across the country and the globe, we have compiled a full roster of ways you can connect beyond campus on 4/22 to mark this special anniversary. 

Share how you are celebrating with us on social media @sustainNU using #NUEarthMonth2020 and Happy Earth Day!  

Celebrate with the Arts:

WFMT Performance

When: April 22, 8 p.m. 
Where: Listen online at WFMT

Stephen Alltop leads the Northwestern University Symphony, the Alice Millar Chapel Choir, the Evanston Children’s Choir, and soloists in Terra Nostra – Our Earth – by the Chicago-based composer Stacy Garrop in a performance recorded in February. This large-scale celebration of our planet uses poetry by Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Walt Whitman, and Edna St. Vincent Millay in the progression of its three sections: Creation of the World, The Rise of Humanity, and Searching for Balance. Kerry Frumkin hosts this program in observance of Earth Day. 

Celebrate Earth Day 2020 by Sharing Window Artwork

When: April 22  
Where: Social Media

Join EPA in celebrating 50 years of Earth Day! Since many of us are staying safe at home this year, EPA is inviting everyone to celebrate Earth Day by drawing pictures, making signs, or using whatever recycled materials you have around the house to decorate the windows of your home to celebrate Earth Day with your community. You can also print one of their coloring pages to hang in your window, then share pictures of your completed artwork on social media using the hashtags #EarthDay2020, #EarthDayAtHome, and #EPAat50.

One Earth Film Fest’s Earth Week Virtual Mini Film Festival

When: April 20 – April 25
Where: Zoom Webinars

Register for one or more of these free movie screenings, watch the film with the Chicagoland community, and then discuss with experts via a live chat on Zoom. Check out all the details at the link. This program is hosted in partnership with the City of Chicago.

Films and Registration Links:

Monday April 20, 6 p.m.—Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution
Tuesday April 21, 6 p.m.—The Human Element, Earth Air Water Fire
Wednesday April 22, anytime—Prerecorded virtual events: Hike the Divide and Monty and Rose
Thursday April 23, 6 p.m.—Wasted! The Story of Food Waste
Friday April 24, 4:30 p.m.—Why We Cycle
Saturday April 25, 4 p.m.—One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest Honorable Mention Winners Screening
(Elementary through College)
Sunday April 26, 2 p.m.—The Biggest Little Farm  

Unitarian Universalist Earth Day Celebration

When: April 22, 7:00-9:00 PM  
Where: Zoom

Join the Unitarian Church of Evanston along with Evanston Mayor Stephen Hagerty and State Representative Robyn Gabel for Earth Day 2020. All are invited to gather virtually in song, poetry, ritual, and learning to celebrate and share ways of protecting our precious planet. 

Celebrate with Science and Sustainability:

Flatten The Curve Summit

When: April 22, 11:00 a.m. CDT – 6:00 a.m. CDT 
Where: Zoom

Knowledge, strategies, and tools to help us cope with crises and strengthen our communities. Attend sessions about healthcare, public policy, law, cyber conflict, climate change, collaboration, and digital self-defense. 

Earth Day Network

When: April 22
Where: earthday.org

The Earth Day Network is hosting 24 hours of action, a global digital surge, and a full day of livestreamed content with Earth Day Live.

Happiness & Sustainability Around the Earth

When: April 22,  24-Hour Webinar
Where: UN SDSN website

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) invites you to join in a 24-hour webinar event, Happiness & Sustainability Around the Earth for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. During this 24-hour webinar, we will circumnavigate the globe to navigate happiness, well-being, and sustainability amongst COVID-19.  

In this stressful and uncertain time, it is important to stay socially connected, while maintaining physical distancing. Happiness and well-being is something all humans share in common, and it is achieved through connecting with one another.

This 24-hour webinar will give us an opportunity to: 

• Engage with experts and community leaders on how various sustainable development initiatives across the globe are creating a more just and thriving society
• Explore how the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) are being met across 13 regions and networks 
• Discuss how happiness is still alive amidst a global pandemic

50th Anniversary of Earth Day Digital Resource Fair

When: April 22
Where: Sport Ecology website

Sport Ecology will host a Digital Resource Fair featuring the Top 50 Digital Resources in Sport Ecology, one for each year we’ve celebrated Earth Day. Carefully curated from some of the most cutting-edge organizations and thought leaders. Content will be targeted for sport sustainability professionals, academics, students, and fans.

Celebrate with Nature and the Outdoors:

Take Part in Sky Day Project

When: April 22
Where: skydayproject.org and your backyard!

Sky Day Project is a global citizen artwork created by British Artist and SkyDay Founder Ben Whitehouse. Celebrate Earth Day by looking to the skies and documenting your experience and then upload your sky-only photos to skydayproject.org. Make sure you remember the Sky Day Project Golden Rule! KEEP IT ALL ABOUT THE SKY! No trees, pets, buildings, horizons.... you get the idea! JUST SKY. 

Budburst

When: April 22  
Where: Budburst website and in your backyard 

Help the Chicago Botanic Garden by recording changes in a plant or tree in your own backyard. Watch for signs of buds, flowers or leaves to welcome spring! Budburst brings together researchers, educators, gardeners, and citizen scientists on a shared journey to uncover the stories of plants and animals affected by human impacts on the environment. We hope that sharing these stories will increase appreciation of plants and the natural world and inspire conservation action.

iNaturalist

When: April 22
Where:  online and in your backyard

Nature is everywhere, both indoors and in your great backyard. Sign up for iNaturalist and record your wildlife and nature observations on your walk outside or in your own home. Contribute to their Never Home Alone project or simply record any plant, bug, fungi, bird, mammal- really anything you see out on your walk. You don’t even need to know what kind of species it is as the community of naturalist and other citizen scientists can help ID your photo and observation.  Your records and observations are used in research all over the world.

Celebrate by Taking Action:

Evanston Earth Week Challenge

When: April 20  – 24

Evanston is also hosting an Earth Week Challenge. Each day of the week, residents are encouraged to complete the following daily challenges and share them on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter using the hashtags #EvanstonEarthWeek and #EarthDay50:

April 20—Subscribe to an environmental podcast or newsletter
April 21—Write a nature haiku
April 22—Urge your elected officials to prioritize climate action in COVID-19 stimulus and recovery efforts
April 23—Share your favorite existing Evanston nature photo
April 24—Unsubscribe from paper junk mail at catalogchoice.org 

Join Northwestern’s Campus Ecochallenge

When: Challenge runs April 1 – 30  

Join Northwestern’s Earth Month 2020 Team! You don’t need to be on campus to take action to protect our planet this Earth Month. From April 1 through April 30, students, staff, and faculty are invited to participate in Northwestern’s Campus EcoChallenge. The Campus Ecochallenge is a fun and social way to take action on the issues you care about, connect with the Northwestern community, and compete to make the biggest impact!  You can make a difference through actions aimed at improving your community, energy use, food sustainability, health, connection to nature, lifestyle simplicity, and water conservation. The top three participants with the highest impacts at the end of the challenge will receive a sustainNU prize pack, including reusable items, gardening supplies, and sustainNU swag. Gather your friends, mobilize your student group or office, and let’s see what kind of collective impact Northwestern can make this April!