The Ultimate 7-Day Earth Day Challenge

April 22 is National Earth Day. This year’s theme is “Our Power, Our Planet”. The goal of this year’s theme is to move away from general “awareness” of our planet to become an active “participant” in a cleaner world. We encourage people to participate this year in an Earth Day challenge that focuses on performing one Earth-friendly act each day to help establish low-friction habit shifts that will continue on well after. Your job will be to perform one task per day for the 7 days leading up to National Earth Day.

The Ultimate 7-Day Earth Day Challenge

Day 1 – April 16: Wash in cold water. Did you know that about 90% of the energy used by a washing machine goes into just heating the water? Instead of doing the laundry in warm or hot water, switch to cold. Many modern detergents are now designed to do very week in cold cycles.

Day 2 – April 17: Unsubscribe from e-Newsletters. Did you know that every email stored in a cloud server has a tiny carbon footprint because of the energy needed to power the data centers? Instead of sending those unwanted emails to your SPAM folder, click on the UNSUBSCRIBE option to eliminate it altogether.

Day 3 – April 18: Make one meal plant-based. Did you know that switching even one meal from meat-based to plant-based will significantly lower the water usage and greenhouse gas emissions associated with livestock? Try making one meal per week a vegetarian mean. This can be a lentil soup or a veggie stir-fry.

Day 4 – April 19: Unplug “vampire” electronics. Did you know that electronics that are turned off, but still plugged in are still using power? This is “vampire” electronics. Unplug 3 things that are “off” but still plugged in, like a toaster, a space lamp or a coffee maker.

Day 5 – April 20: Say “no” to plastic. Did you know that the majority of plastic waste is from single-use plastic like bags and bottles? Help eliminate this by switching to reusable options in two key areas. Bring reusable cloth bags to the store. Keep a reusable water bottle on hand.

Day 6 – April 21: Choose cloth over paper. Did you know that single-use disposable products end up in landfills? Change from using paper towels to a cloth kitchen towel. Change paper napkins to cloth. Things that can be washed instead of thrown out will help.

Day 7 – April 22: Walk instead of driving. Did you know short car trips are the least fuel-efficient because the engine doesn’t have time to warm up to its optimal operating temperature? If your destination is less than 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) away, walk or bike instead of driving.

Download this printable poster to display as a reminder of the challenge.