Happy birthday Earth Day! Now, since the golden anniversary falls in 2020 during a global pandemic, you might wonder what you can do to celebrate.
You can’t go to a local Earth Day festival as you might have done in past years. You can’t rock out during an Earth Tones music concert – at least not in person. So we have to get a little creative, or maybe you’ve already been doing many of these things, and just reiterating them is a great way to contribute to the longevity of our planet, and can be a meaningful way to mark the occasion.
You can start by making Earth Day cookies, and while you are busy creating the delicious sweets, you and your children or your significant other can discuss ways we can all make the earth a better place.
Bake Earth Day Cookies!
Bake Earth Day Cookies!You can simply start with a sugar cookie mix or mix up your own:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
Blue gel food coloring
Green gel food coloring
Red Wilton Candy Melts (optional)
Four-inch circle cookie cutter
Preheat your oven to 350 F and line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then quickly mix in egg and vanilla extract. Mix in flour, and separate dough, placing about one-third into one bowl, and two-thirds int he second. Mix blue food coloring in with the larger amount of dough, and mix green food coloring in the other. Form each dough into a ball. Roll blue dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Break apart pieces of the green dough, and lightly press them onto the blue dough to create an “earth effect,” and continue to roll your dough until it’s about 1/4″ thick. Use cookie cutter to cut circles. Place on baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool. As an added, optional touch, you can use the candy melts to create a red heart on each earth cookie.
Earth Day was founded in 1970 as a day of education about environmental issues. The now global celebration was conceived by Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson and inspired by the protests of the 1960s. Nelson hoped to raise public awareness of pollution, and bring environmental causes into the national spotlight.
The theme of Earth Day 2020 is “climate action,” celebrated with The Great Global Cleanup, dedicated to removing trash from green spaces and urban centers. Earthday.org had hopes that it would be the largest volunteer event in history. Don’t worry, the organization has come up with ideas for an “Individual Cleanup,” that will contribute to the overall global cleanup. We can all still make a difference even while practicing safe social distancing. Visit the Earth Day website to find out how.
Here are a few other things that you can do now that we think will go a long way to making Mother Earth happier for years to come:
- Use reusable sandwich wraps instead of plastic zip-top bags.
- Use reusable grocery bags (though right now this isn’t allowed, but will probably be acceptable again, following the pandemic).
- Of course, we can all plant a tree, which seems like a simple, easy and low-cost way to make a difference, but sometimes, it’s easy to forget to take the action. Plant it in your own backyard or ask a friend or neighbor if they would like to seem some new green in their yard.
- Clean up local parks. In these days of social distancing, you can do it with your own trash bag, by yourself. While taking a walk, pick up all of the trash and plastic you see (be sure to wear gloves and be careful of glass and sharp objects), then recycle what you can when you get home.
- Plant a vegetable garden at your home. My daughter and I just did this, and though we have not seen the fruits of our labor yet, we are excited.
I’m sure there are many other creative ways to make a difference for our planet. Dream up your own, make your mark, and let us know what you did.
