Earth Day

Celebrating 50 years!

Credit: Heart by Amanda Wilson, Groundskeeper Photo credit: Justin Counts, IT

While many of us are away from campus weathering this unprecedented crisis, we have little moments throughout the day to think about our impact on this planet, our connection to it, and to each other. With the 50th celebration of Earth Day upon us, it’s a great time to reflect on these issues and look for inspiration from our colleagues, friends, and communities.

As such, I invite you all to share the little things you may be doing at home, the big ideas and projects you are pondering, and any other relevant resources, videos, or virtual events that may help bring us together in support of a healthy, thriving planet. We’ll post this information on our here as well as to LC social media accounts. To share content, please contact Amy Dvorak or tag your posts #MyPlanetMyPledge and #LCEarthDay.

To learn more about the history of Earth Day or to participate in virtual events, check out the official Earth Day page as well as the many other resources and activities below.

Lewis & Clark and Portland

Please join the Lewis & Clark community in celebrating Earth Day! Share your photos, stories, inspirations with #MyPlanetMyPledge and #LCEarthDay.

More great news at LC:

• New LC Bee Hive
• #1 Environmental Law Program
• #ClimateStrike: MAT alumnae behind climate change initiatives
• The Center for Animal Law Studies Launches New International Wildlife Law Clinic
• Divesting from fossil fuels: A progress report
• Finding Meaning and Motivation through School Gardens

EcoChallenge: join the Northwest Earth Institute in seeing how our individual and collective actions make a difference. Join an EcoChallenge team, check out their courses, or explore the website to see how incremental change activates larger movements.

Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network (GPSEN): just hosted a fabulous virtual symposium - listen to the speakers or check out their community calendar for upcoming events.

Join an Earth Day Singalong sponsored by SAGE from 8:30 PM to 8:45 PM on April 22. Click here for more information.

Investigate getting your yard certified through the Backyard Habitat Certification Program.

Regional/National

Check out Oregon’s Earth Day page and participate in #MyPlanetMyPledge. Make a poster and share with your community what you plan to do to celebrate Mother Earth.

• Second Nature Earth Day resources, videos
• Earth Talks - Seattle University
• Ecoculture Lab - ‘When climate change met the corona virus’
• Oregon State’s Master Gardner courses - several free courses online now!
• #EarthDayAtHome with NASA
• Smithsonian Virtual Earth Optimism Summit: Topics range from climate to food to finance to oceans, and speakers include young activists, conservationists, artists and filmmakers, scientists, journalists, political and business leaders

Global

• Earth Day Live - youth activism forum, events
• Global Oneness Project: Lesson Plans, stories, short videos
• Sustainable Development Solutions Network: Happiness & Sustainability around the world, explores the SDGs with webinars all day on Earth Day

Home with kids? Check out these resources:

• Oregon Zoo live videos and activities

• Ideas for nature-based activities from Institute for Applied Ecology

• Eco-School Network - Speak Out: Youth Earth Day Challenge

Videos/Documentaries:

Register to watch - Survival of the Sun Bear - with director Jocelyn Stokes ’07

The Story of Plastic - Watch The Story of Plastic on Earth Day (April 22) at 2pm EST/PST on Discovery Channel