Suggestions for Celebrating Earth Day Week 2020 Lakewood United Church of Christ

The Week of April 20 – 26 includes EARTH DAY on Wednesday, April 22th, the 50 th
Anniversary of the very first Earth Day held in 1970. To honor and celebrate this
event and to show our support for our at- risk environment, LUCC Creation Justice
Task Force would like to recommend a number of possible activities for you and
your family to do together or individually on each day of Earth Day Week. On April
26 th at our 10:30 church gathering on Zoom, you will be asked to share what you did
and how this activity made you feel and think about Mother Earth. We especially
look forward to hearing from our children and youth!

Please feel free to add to this list and find other creative ways to celebrate Earth
Day Week!

NON-ELECTRONIC ACTIVITIES – NO INTERNET OR COMPUTER NECESSARY

 Take a walk or sit outside and observe the natural world around you for 15
– 30 minutes. Make a list or note what you observe

 Stand barefoot or lie down in the grass or sand and feel the earth under
you as you “Ground” yourself with the earth. Research has shown that
allowing the bottoms of your feet, palms of your hands, or entire body to
touch the earth may have health and mental health benefits. See
https://www.healthline.com/health/grounding or search the net for other
information

 Write a Haiku poem about nature or the environment

Traditional Haiku Structure
The first line is 5 syllables. The second line is 7 syllables. The third line is 5
syllables like the first. Punctuation and capitalization are up to the poet, and
need not follow the rigid rules used in structuring sentences.

 Draw, sketch, or photograph an image of one of your favorite animals,
flowers, trees, or landscapes/seascapes of the natural world

 Enjoy singing or listening to a hymn or song celebrating nature. Some
examples,

For the Beauty of the Earth
To You, O God, All Creatures Sing In the Bulb There Is a Flower
Finlandia
Home on the Range
America the Beautiful
Edelweiss

 Plant a tree, bush, flower, or vegetable in a garden, a pot, or in your yard

 Hug a tree – Even if we can’t hug each other now, we can hug and say
thank you to our trees.
Facts about trees:
filter pollutants from the air, especially CO2 cool the air slow evaporation, save water, prevent erosion help the healing process – patients with trees out their window heal
faster.
reduce symptoms of ADHD, mental fatigue, and even violence in
neighborhoods with more trees
reduce level of fear.

 Go through your house and eliminate any single-use plastics still in your
drawers and cupboards

 Eat a meatless meal one day

 Use an item usually recycled or thrown in the trash and repurpose it for
another use

 Say a prayer at 12 noon on Earth Day, April 22 along with all those logging
onto https://www.faithclimateactionweek.org/wp-
content/uploads/2020/03/Climate-Blessing.pdf

Create an Altar with natural elements from outside your house, Light a candle,
and use this blessing.

Climate Blessing – We Hold the Earth

We hold everyone who suffers from storms and droughts intensified by
climate change. We hold all species that suffer. We hold world leaders
delegated to make decisions for life. We pray that the web of life may be
mended through courageous actions to limit carbon emissions. We
pray for right actions for adaptation and mitigation to help our already suffering earth community. We pray that love and wisdom might inspire my
actions and our actions as communities. So that we may, with integrity,
look into the eyes of all living beings and truthfully say, we are
doing our part to care for them and the future of the children. May
love transform us and our world with new steps toward life. So may it
be.
Find more Climate Blessings for different faith traditions at
www.faithclimateactionweek.org

ELECTRONIC ACTIVITIES – COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS REQUIRED

After each web experience or activity, reflect on the experience by writing a brief
paragraph, poem, or letter OR draw an image or picture that best describes how
this experience has touched you, what you learned, and what action you might
take based on this knowledge.

 Go to Earth Day Network website – Activities to Do page and choose one
or more from many options
https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-live/
https://www.earthday.org/take-action-now/

 Watch the film The Human Element for free online anytime between April
17 – 26, 2020 at the link
https://www.interfaithpowerandlight.org/2020/01/the-human-element

 Watch anytime YouTube of youth activist and founder of the Sink or Swim
Project
Delaney Reynolds at URL (Claire has met Delaney and she is akin to
Greta Thunberg with her passion and outrage for climate devastation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyfbxnuJbHw and see links related to her
work at
http://miamisearise.com/ and https://delaneyreynolds.com/ and
http://miamisearise.com/2020/03/30/national-geographic-fighting-for-their-future/

 Nature Craft Project – Using anything found outside in the natural world,
create a craft project using whatever you have at home. See websites for
ideas:
https://www.artycraftykids.com/craft/ https://www.parents.com/fun/arts-crafts/kid/nature-inspired-crafts-ideas-for-
kids/
https://www.redtedart.com/easy-nature-crafts-kids/
https://outdoorfamiliesonline.com/easy-nature-crafts-for-kids/

 Check out the website Earth Day for Kids for ideas of things to do with your
children
https://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/earth/about.htm
https://www.earthday.org/7-eco-friendly-actions-for-kids-during-the-pandemic/
https://buggyandbuddy.com/category/art-crafts-projects/holidays-
celebrations/earth-day/

 Watch Citizens Climate Lobby (Bill Marshall from this organization spoke at
our church and asked us to sign a petition for the Energy Innovation and
Carbon Dividend Act) Earth Day Event online, Celebrate Earth Day with
Katharine Hayhoe and CCL and join event on Saturday, April 25 (see 2 nd link below) –
See
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=Cm#inbox/FMfcgxwHMsMCDSFzHrqdCW
dfCDPKkwhQ
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uniting-from-home-registration-101119077884

 Go on Earth Day Live website and attend a live stream, virtual gathering
on Earth Day, April 22 or the 23 rd and 24th or engage in one of the other
suggested activities and events
https://www.earthdaylive2020.org/?referrer=group-350org-joint&source=350org-
joint&utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionkit

 Attend a Multi-Faith Earth Day Service at the Washington National
Cathedral co-hosted by the Interfaith Power and Light Organization on
Sunday, April 19, 2020 at 2:00pm live on Facebook at
http://facebook.com/wncathedral

 Check out the Eat the Weeds website at
http://www.eattheweeds.com/
See if you can identify any edible plants in your garden or neighborhood.
Ruth and Claire regularly make Spanish Needle and Lemon Grass
tea from their yard plants! Use the Search function at the right top of
the website screen to see any of these plants and their use!

 Get involved in the Green New Deal Activism – Check out either
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gnd.pinellas.dsa/ or Instagram:
@gnd.pinellasdsa

For many options to get involved and do one of them. Here is a sample script
shared by leaders of the Green New Deal locally if you contact Mayor Kriseman
(727-893-7201 or by email: mayor@stpete.org ) or the City Council of St.
Petersburg ( 727-893-7117 or by email: council@stpete.org ) via email or phone
Script:
Hi, my name is __ and I’m a (local activist/resident of) ________ (St. Pete, Pinellas County, etc.). I am (calling/writing) to urge ______ (you/Mayor
Kriseman/City Council/Councilman/woman X) to advocate for more funding for St.
Pete’s Integrated Sustainability Action Plan in the upcoming fiscal year’s budget. I’m
proud of St. Pete for the work we’re doing to become green and sustainable, but we
need to do more to combat climate change as well as help foster social and racial
justice and equity in our community. I would love to see this plan become more of a
priority, and a blueprint for other cities in Pinellas County to do the same.

 Read Fast Facts about Global Warming at link
file:///G:/My%20Drive/laptop/MyFiles/LUCC%20Earth%20Day/7_Fast_Facts_About_Gl
obal_Warming.pdf
What did you learn about this pending climate change? What might you do to
help slow down or reverse this warming?

 Pledge to be a Faith Climate Voter by printing out and sending a post
card
file:///G:/My%20Drive/laptop/MyFiles/LUCC%20Earth%20Day/8_2020_Fait
h_Climate_Voter_Pcard.pdf

 Focus on Forests – learn about national forests in need of protection at
https://focusforests.microsoft.com/?ocid=AID3010600_QSG_4097562_FY2003INC_F
OR_inp_rmc_SegF#nyc_watershed
What did you learn? What might you do to help?

 Go to the Eckerd College Environmental Film Festival website
https://www.environmentalfilmfest.com/
and choose one film that you missed and would like to view. Kim liked Aga and
Honeyland and Claire liked The Wall and the River.

Find it on NetFlix or Amazon or another film site and watch it.
Paris to Pittsburg can be viewed free at
https://filmsfortheearth.org/en/films/paris-to-pittsburgh
See other free films at https://filmsfortheearth.org/en/films
Go to WATCH ONLINE FOR FREE and then Click on dots
below line of films shown to access many more

 Calculate your Carbon Footprint at any of the online Carbon Footprint
Calculators such as Cool Climate Network
https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/calculator

 Go to the Interfaith Power and Light Website at 12 noon on Earth Day, April
22 and participate in prayer.
https://www.faithclimateactionweek.org/wp-
content/uploads/2020/03/Climate-Blessing.pdf