7 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day (While Working From Home)

It’s time to celebrate Earth Day again, and this year’s a big one! It’s been 50 years of celebrating the fight against environmental degradation, so this year should be extra special. But how?

On April 22nd, most of America is still in lockdown. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, important Earth Day events that were planned last year have been cancelled.

There won’t be any public fun runs, or community green festivals or city park clean-ups. Environmental organizations have been forced to adhere to strict social distancing guidelines. Your workplace green team is suddenly faced with a total realignment of their plans! The good news is that there are lots of incredible ways your workforce can still celebrate this important day.

It’s the 50th Earth Day celebration – and the very first to happen in the virtual space! Here are 7 inspiring ways to celebrate the green movement while your team works from home.

#1: Host a Fun Zoom Green Challenge

One of the benefits of working from home during COVID-19, is the virtual video connection. Your team is ready and waiting to celebrate. This is your chance to host a fun, recordable green challenge.

• Invite your team to a zoom conference during Earth week
• Decide on an Earth Day theme beforehand (link it to a lesson)
• Set a fun challenge for your teammates (make them dress up!)
• Stack cards, do a dance, recreate a movie scene – the list is endless

Add an exciting green lesson in from your sustainability team. Then edit the zoom conference and distribute it as one of your company’s special earth day projects. It’s great for boosting morale!

#2: Join a Virtual Fun Run

Your home workers may have lost out on attending that organized fun run, but they can still participate at home. Just switch to virtual remote ‘work-from-home’ races.

• Link your virtual fun run to a green cause or charity
• Get employees to find pledges per lap they run
• Everyone sets up a live zoom call and runs together!

One of the best tips for working remotely is to take part in group activities online. Your home workers will be delighted that they can still raise money for your Earth Day cause. There are dozens of virtual fun runs to join on the day.

#3: Make Correct PPE Disposal Videos

Everyone is using personal protective equipment now, but few people know how to correctly dispose of this medical waste. To celebrate this occasion create a PPE awareness Earth Day video.

• Individually or together, hold up words that teach the viewer a lesson
• As a group, do a fun skit that promotes throwing away masks, gloves or wipes
• Viral PPE disposal videos would help protect local marine life and wildlife

This is one of those ways to celebrate earth day that can have a HUGE impact. Whether you’re B2B or B2C, everyone needs to know that this medical waste will seriously harm our environment.

#4: Create Earth Day Art to Raise Awareness

COVID-19 offers your home workers a chance to get really creative with their Earth Day events. Pick a green topic to support, and get employees to build, paint, draw or create art to raise awareness.

• Tell them to create something that represents Earth Day
• It could be a plastic monster, a revolving earth, or their dogs dressed as activists
• Snap a few photos and compile them into a slideshow for your team

Share this media internally and on your social media pages to inspire awareness and discussion around these creative pieces. You can even have a contest with prizes for most crafty idea!

#5: Attend a Virtual Climate Change Conference

There are some great benefits of working from home for your employees, including the ability to watch a live-stream conference on Earth Day. Who needs a live talk when you can telecommute?

• Offer your employees a list of educational conferences to choose from
• Attend the world’s largest virtual climate change conference as a team
• After the conference host a company discussion about the issues

Meet the challenges of working from home with a stimulating conference that will get your team thinking and learning. Check out this amazing list of available conferences this Earth Day.

#6: Spark a Neighborhood Awareness Campaign

Some remote work-from-home teams aren’t used to virtual engagement. In this case you can ask them to ‘spark’ a viral neighborhood campaign to raise Earth Day awareness. These are super fun!

• Get your home workers (and their kids) to make window posters
• The posters should be on an Earth Day topic of your choice
• Put the poster in your house window, and get your neighbors to do the same
• See how far your message can travel

These Earth Day events are neighborhood specific, so your team members won’t have to go anywhere and can maintain social distancing protocols. Send some texts, snap some pics!

#7: Do a Daily Exercise Route Clean-Up

Since the COVID-19 lockdown, you can only go out to get essentials at the grocery store. Why not ask your workforce to take a walk there on Earth Day, and clean the route as they go?

• Walk to the nearest grocery store to get essentials
• As you go, pick up litter and dispose of it in a waste bag (the Swedes call this plogging)
• Take a fun video or photos to share with the team

Do this once, or all through Earth Week to make an impact in your respective neighborhoods. Nothing says I care about the Earth more than keeping it free of harmful litter and contaminants.

There are many ways to celebrate earth day this year – and all of them are virtual. This is a ground-breaking, monumental shift in how we connect, share and support the causes that we love. Help your team be an instrumental part of that this year, to mark 50 years of green conservation.

Happy Earth Day!