Earth Week 2020: 10 Ways to Enjoy and Support Our Natural World

Today’s theme is NATURE. From human wellness to biodiversity and clean air, the importance of the natural world cannot be overstated. While our understanding of its importance keeps growing, we are spending less time outside. In her book, The Nature Fix, Florence Williams details how nature makes us more relaxed, more creative, and more socially connected (excepting current social distancing.) “We don’t recognize how happy nature makes us. We get a tremendous boost from being outside in a natural environment.”  Spending as little as five minutes in nature has been shown to improve mood, reduce stress and anxiety, and contribute to better physical health by increasing activity and lowering blood pressure.

Here are 10 tips and things you can do to get involved:

1. Garden! Plant a tree or plants native to your area – make the world more beautiful!
2. Pick up trash on your exercise walk. Don’t forget to grab some gloves and wash your hands when you get home.
3. Reduce bird collisions with bird’s eye view decals.
4. Recycle, but do it better!
5. Identify a plant in your yard or neighborhood. Get to know Mother Earth.
6. Build a wooden birdfeeder.
7. Learn about nature through a virtual visit to a museum, aquarium, or botanical garden.
8. Do a pollution experiment to teach kids and adults alike the effects of pollution.
9. Build a bee condo or bat house.
10. Learn more about invasive species and how to prevent them from occurring.