Earth Day 2023 edit: Invest in our planet

Earth Day takes place on Saturday 22 April, with the theme Invest In Our Planet.

Want to know a little more about it and how you can get involved? Read on…

What is Earth Day and when did it start?

Earth Day is an annual celebration designed to raise awareness of the need to protect our planet and its resources for future generations. The very first Earth Day was held back in 1970 when a US senator from Wisconsin organised a local demonstration to highlight environmental issues.

It now takes place on the same day every year, with the entire month of April being designated as Earth Month, and lots of activities taking place to support its mission.

Earth Day - what you can do to celebrate

There are lots of ways you can get involved in Earth Day, either officially or unofficially. You can choose to take part in an event, or else just dedicate a little conscious time to thinking about our beautiful world. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Find an event near you with the official Earth Day event map

The Earth Day has lots of really handy resources, including a map here people can register and see what events are happening near them. It’s a great way to be in the know of what you can get up to with like-minded people in your area.

Decide on your own activity

If you’re unable to find a suitable event happening near you - there’s no need to let Earth Day pass you by entirely. Take the initiative and choose to do an activity alone or with family or a small group of friends.

This could be litter-picking around your local area, planting bulbs or seeds in your garden or investing in a bird feeder in your garden - a small step to help the world around you.

Read about sustainable gardening with Chelsea Flower show gardener Lottie Delamain

Step into nature

Spend a little time wrapped in our beautiful planet. You could do a park or forest walk, or visit a local nature reserve - anything that gets you consciously thinking about our beautiful world and the wildlife we share it with.

All of these things will encourage you to get into nature and to remember what a wonderful world we have right on our doorstep.

Check out our tips on forest bathing 

Get inspired with a great watch, read or listen

There’s nothing like investing in a well-produced podcast or TV show to get you tuned into a topic you’re passionate about.

The podcast

There are lots of brilliant podcasts out there with an environmental focus, but we like BBC Earth  which features lots of great animal stories and sounds as well as interviews with some very interesting guests. It’s hosted by the very enthusiastic  Rutendo Shackleton and Sebastian Echeverri and will have you laughing as well as learning something new, we guarantee.

The event

For something in-person, check out the BBC Earth Experience taking place at Daikin Centre in London - an immersive day out with bespoke narration from David Attenborough.

The TV show

If you like the idea of watching a drama about climate change rather than the usual documentary, and you have Apple TV or are thinking about getting it, you might want to check out Extrapolations.

This eight-episode series has an A-list cast including Mery Streep, Edward Norton and Sienna Miller to name just a few, and features 60-minute shows set in the future and focusing on different characters whose lives are connected by the fear that the changing world climate is bringing with it.

Watch Extrapolations on Apple TV now 

The book

If you’d rather leaf through the pages of a good book, try Michael E Mann’s The New Climate War, which aims to disentangle the misinformation around climate change and to scrutinize the lack of political will to do better for our planet.

The good news is that Dr Mann is cautiously optimistic that we can still save the planet for future generations - all is far from lost.

The New Climate War - The Fight To Take Back Our Planet - buy at Blackwells 

Make a commitment to do something simple

And finally, why not use Earth Day as a time to commit or recommit to something small (or bigger, if you want to!) It could be a dedication to buying more sustainably (being it clothes or anything else), thinking of ways to use a little less water in the home or simple swaps eg to long-lasting light bulbs if you don’t already use them. The little things make a big difference; take this as your chance to invest in the planet just a little more.