Are you a school, an organization, a municipality, or an individual? You want to organize an activity as part of Earth Day but you need inspiration? Here are some ideas.

Once you have come up with an idea that suits you, add it to the online calendar!

By the way, Earth Day can also be celebrated at home with our home activity ideas.

• SCHOOL
• MUNICIPALITIES
• ORGANIZATIONS
• CITIZENS

Schools

Here are some ideas for activities to organize in your school on Earth Day:

Talks and workshops

• Creative workshops using recycled materials.
• Cooking workshops with local products.
• Invite an expert to discuss food waste.
• Organize a conference on a current topic/environmental issue.

Clean-up activities

• Organize a shoreline clean-up activity with an organization in your area, or simply collect garbage around your school;
• Brighten up your schoolyard or a nearby park by planting trees, shrubs, and flowers to help out the planet.

Other mobilization activities

• Set up recycling and/or compost collection in your school and organize awareness-raising activities;
• Organize a training on vermicomposting and make your own bins;
• Develop with students an awareness campaign on energy efficiency;
• Set up a garden where students participate at all stages: planting, watering, cutting branches, harvesting, etc.;
• Organize a day when students get to school in the form of a walking school bus, organized by parents.

And don’t forget, taking concrete action on April 22nd is good, but every day is even better!

MUNICIPALITIES

Here are some activities you can organize in your municipality as part of Earth Day:

Conferences and workshops

• Invite a speaker who is well-known and/or from your region to come and raise awareness about an environmental issue for your citizens;
• Do a conference highlighting a citizen-led sustainable development project in order to mobilize as many people as possible around it;
• Offer a workshop on home composting, horticulture, herbal medicine, healthy eating, ecological lawn and garden care, making birdhouses with recycled materials, etc..

Environmental challenges

• Organize a “plogging” style race to pick up garbage that crosses your path;
• Organize a clean-up activity (parks, shorelines, schoolyards, etc.). There may be incentives such as a “heaviest bag”contest;
• Challenge your citizens to an Earth Day challenge (example: a day without a car or computer and television).

Plantations and guided tours

• Organize a planting of trees or shrubs with young and old;
• Visit a hiking trail in your area with a biologist who can explain the characteristics of the surrounding biodiversity;
• Organize a guided tour of waste management site(s): a landfill site, an incinerator, a composting site, a recycling plant. One of the people in charge of these places could explain the challenges faced by municipalities.

Sales, donations, and exchanges

• Invite citizens to exchange their still useful items through barter or swap (without exchanging money) as a way to practice more responsible consumption;
• Organize a spring bazaar (flea-market style): “Give your junk a second life and the Earth will thank you!”
• Distribute plants (flowers, vines, perennials, and/or shrubs) to green and beautify the municipality.;

Other mobilization activities

• Host the screening of an environmental documentary or film with a discussion;
• Celebrate Earth Day by publishing a special section in the municipal newspaper with tips and tricks on how to become better eco-citizens.
• Set up and promote a collection of household hazardous waste such as paint, batteries, solvents, electronic and computer equipment, or expired drugs;
• Organize a small tasting fair to introduce the region’s products to the public and/or a tasting of organic and fair trade products;
• Promote sustainable transportation by asking elected municipal officials to use active transportation (walking, cycling, etc.) to get around;

And don’t forget, taking concrete action on April 22nd is good, but every day is even better!

ORGANIZATIONS

Here are some ideas for activities to organize in your workplace on Earth Day:

Mobilizations

• Encourage employees to bring eco-friendly lunch baskets.
• Buy reusable tableware to reduce the use of disposable tableware.
• Trade your household products for eco-friendly or even natural products.
• Encourage your employees to come by active transportation (walking or cycling), public transit, or carpooling.
• Plan a tree planting on your organization’s property.

Environmental challenges

• Start a “Zero Paper” day: look at your documents on the computer, limit printing (or at least print double-sided), send the documents in their electronic version;
• Take the Zero Waste Challenge: reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost, but don’t throw it away! The first thing to do to make the challenge work is to remove the garbage cans from the office.

Adopting new habits

• Make April 22nd a day of “sustainable transport”
• Take advantage of April 22nd to learn about heat islands and green various areas of your organization (parking lots, terraces, windows).
• DRemove electronic and hazardous products that are present in the offices but not accepted in the special drop-off points.
• Compensate for the greenhouse gases linked to the travel of the various members of your organization on April 22nd, the month of April, or the whole year.
• Verify that your suppliers have responsible practices in their supply, production, and transportation chains.
• Run an energy-saving campaign in your office with posters in common areas or by e-mail. Here are different actions that you can propose: turning off your computer (including your screen) when leaving in the evening, turning down the heating, turning off the lights in unused rooms/offices, etc.

Meetings and discussions

• Organize a brainstorming workshop: what could we do in our organization to be more environmentally friendly in our daily lives? The goal is to set objectives for the following year regarding water consumption, waste management, energy efficiency, etc.
• Organize eco-responsible meetings or events.
• Organize a lunchtime conference on an environmental theme (examples of themes: eating local and organic, food waste, etc.).

CITIZENS

Here are some ideas for activities to organize on Earth Day:

Helping others

• Get involved as a volunteer or become a member of an environmental organization.
• Get involved in your municipality by attending municipal council meetings or by submitting projects related to the environment.
• Offer to help clean up and green your street or neighbourhood or start an urban agriculture project.

Start your own initiatives

• Organize a carpooling system with your colleagues or encourage them to use active transportation with you.
• Plan an excursion with friends or colleagues to a local producer.
• Organize a day to pick up used clothing or objects at work and bring them to a thrift store or participate in a barter activity.
• Invent a rainwater harvesting system for you and your neighbours.
• If possible, set up a worm composting bin at work and encourage your co-workers to sort their compostable materials for the composting bin.
• Become the organizer of your neighbourhood party and make it an environmental party, with selective sorting, water consumption awareness, consumption of local and bio-fair trade food, and greening or cleaning projects.

Using active transportation

• Try walking, running, or cycling.
• Take on the Earth Day challenge by trying an iGo electric bike at one of the following 76 stores.

  And don’t forget, doing something concrete on April 22nd is good, but every day is even better!