By Wendy Chou

It’s Earth Month! If you’re looking for local ways to celebrate our beautiful planet, you’ve come to the right place. Each year on April 22, known as “Earth Day,” attention is focused on the environment and the ways we can live our lives more sustainably. In recent years, one day hasn’t been enough, leading to “Earth Week,” and now even “Earth Month.”

Here are some actions and activities you can take to show your love and appreciation for Mother Earth all month long.

Get Outside.

The number one activity for Earth Month is appreciating nature’s beauty and getting some fresh air. Whether you like mountains, surf, native plants, or just taking a walk in a local park, it’s not only fun, but good for mental and physical health to spend time outdoors, especially for youth. Make sure you bring plenty of water as temperatures in certain sunny or exposed places can become quite warm in April. Did you know that April 16 to 24 is National Parks Week, and on April 16 itself, entrance fees to all national parks are waived. Find a park. Looking for a guided hike? Try Peninsula Open Space Trust’s outing to Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve on April 19 or Greenbelt Alliance’s “Falcon Wander” trip to Castle Rock Regional Park on April 30. Do you have young toddlers at home? On April 27, Latino Outdoors is hosting a virtual event specifically for parents of little kids to teach them about the wonders of getting outside. There’s also a fun “outdoor storytime” on plants and nature planned by the San Mateo County libraries for April 21 and May 19.

Plant-lovers: to admire the season’s fleeting wildflowers, check out the Peninsula’s Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve for rare flowers that specialize in the poor serpentine soils. Peninsula Open Space Trust also has a great wildflower guide you can download.

 Mount Diablo State Park (Mitchell Canyon trailhead) is a winner if you’re in the Tri-Valley area. In the San Jose area, Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve is recommended. East Bay flower highlights include Sunol Wilderness and Regional Preserve and Ohlone Wilderness, among others in the East Bay Regional Parks District. In San Francisco, check out these recommendations for the Golden Gate National Parks. In short, there’s plenty of natural beauty to seek out all over the Bay Area. Remember the rules to never pick flowers in a park or preserve: They are for all to enjoy!

Go Electric.

When electric appliances, devices, and vehicles are powered by clean electricity, it’s a win-win: these modern technologies are more energy-efficient and can be run on renewables. California and the Bay Area are real powerhouses when it comes to promoting home and transportation electrification for local residents. Are you thinking about electrifying? In addition to resources from The Switch Is On, Campaign for Fossil Free Buildings Silicon Valley’s Electric Home Ambassadors, and BayREN, you can also find plenty of free workshops this month (and next) with Acterra’s Green@Home and Karl Knapp GoEV programs, including programs on Solar Rooftops, EV Charging Basics, Financial Incentives for income-qualified customers, and Electric Bikes. Your local Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) is another great source for information on going electric. This is a great way to shave off emissions from your household carbon footprint. 

Bike and Ride Transit. 

Transportation contributes a huge chunk of greenhouse gas emissions in the Bay Area, and everyday single-use occupancy vehicles turn out to be the main culprit for residents. Why not try public transit instead? All month long, Caltrain fares are half off, so now is a great time to ride the train (please wear your mask!). If you’re into biking, you can join up with fellow cyclists around your neighborhood. In San Jose, there’s the San Jose Bike Party meeting up on April 15. Three fantastic events to choose from on April 23: a San Mateo Community Ride, a fun Family Cycling Rodeo ride in Fremont, and SF Bike Coalition’s Bike Ride for Climate Action on JFK Drive.

Be an Environmental Voter. 

April is a perfect time to register to vote if you haven’t. (If you live in California, check here to get started.) The Environmental Voter Project estimates that more than 8 million environmentalists did not cast a vote in the 2020 presidential election. If you care about the future of the planet, make a point of getting informed about the upcoming elections at the local, state, and national level. In many districts in California, vote-by-mail and in-person options combine with early voting to make voting more convenient. 

It’s a numbers game. By voting, environmentalists are using their voice to amplify the message that climate change and a healthy planet truly matter. As the Environmental Voter Project explains, “if we want true environmental and climate leadership, we must flood the electorate and make it impossible for politicians to run for office without leading on the environment.”

Find a Fair or Festival.

Many of the Bay Area’s environmentally-themed festivals fall within, or close to, Earth Week. Some standout events to look for include the We Love Earth Festival in Menlo Park (April 16), Oakland Zoo’s Earth Day “Regeneration celebration” (April 16) the Ecology Center of Berkeley’s 52nd Earth Day (April 21), Atherton Earth Day (April 23), Mountain View’s Earth Day Celebration (April 23), the Earth Day & Arbor Day Festival in Cupertino (April 23), the wildlife-oriented Earth Day BioBlitz at the Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge (April 23), Palo Alto Youth Council-hosted Earth Day Fair (April 23), Earth Day San Francisco featuring luminaries like Bill McKibben, Dolores Huerta, and Mythbusters’ Adam Savage (April 23), Earth 2050: Create a Better World in Mill Valley (April 24), Earth Day Napa (April 24), and HMB Coastside Earth Day (April 30).

March, Rally, Protest! 

The original Earth Day in 1970 did not look very much like the multitude of local festivals that we commonly see today. The first Earth Day was an enormous public display of solidarity that drew an estimated 20 million Americans out into the streets to protest the worsening pollution of the air and water and galvanized a wave of environmental policy and regulations. Why were environmental protections so desperately needed? Spectacles like the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire and the catastrophic 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara (caused by an offshore oil well) were focal points that were so disturbing to the public, they couldn’t be ignored. 

If you’d like to honor the original Earth Day’s message of protest, here are some local rallies of note: 

Sunrise Silicon Valley is organizing the Silicon Valley Youth Climate Strike on Friday, April 22. Gather at San Jose City Hall at 4:00 pm and march to Plaza de Cesar Chavez, where there will be speeches, music, and fun activities lasting until 6:30 pm, along with a message to local decision makers to address the climate crisis through bold policy. 

Youth Earth Day Rally, San Bruno City Park. Saturday, April 23. 11 am – 5 pm. Picnic Table #8. This rally is focused on sharing an empowering message about climate action, which includes: building more understanding of the climate crisis in our communities; communicating a greater sense of urgency for action; and creating the political will to demand a just and sustainable future.

Palo Alto Rally for Our Earth. Featuring city leaders and community members celebrating the climate progress our cities have already made and encouraging community building for a sustainable future. Friday, April 22 at 4:00 p.m. at King Plaza (in front of City Hall). At 5:00 pm, students will lead a march around and back to King Plaza. Activities continue after the march until 6:00 pm.

Give Back to Your Community.

Considering how much the planet provides to us, giving something back during Earth Month is a great way to show appreciation for a healthy environment. This year, on April 23, the City of Oakland is promoting a volunteer-centric Earth Day event. Visit their site to sign up for a community service activity like cleaning up neighborhood streets, removing litter from creeks, or volunteering a session in a local community garden. 

The City of San Francisco has a number of volunteer opportunities throughout the month of April listed on their “Month of Climate Action” webpage, including coastal and urban cleanups. 

The California State Parks Foundation has a range of options and locations for people interested in volunteering in an outdoor setting, including Angel Island State Park (April 16) and Candlestick Point State Recreation Area (April 23). 

Pacific Beach Coalition hosts an volunteer clean-up. Get involved by signing up for this year’s “Earth Day of Action” — happening on April 23.

Sign up for Savings.

If you can flick off a light switch, you may want to join OhmConnect, a free service that helps remind you to use energy when it’s clean and rewards you for saving when it’s not. Turning off appliances, postponing chores like running the dishwasher or laundry, and powering down electronic devices are some examples of ways you can save energy when needed. These simple actions will earn you rewards, benefiting your wallet and helping the planet by avoiding dirty energy use. Learn more, and see if you qualify, here.

Eat More Plants and Throw Away Less Food.

These two strategies may sound very basic, but both are things you can start doing on a daily basis. More importantly, both are recommended by Project Drawdown’s “Top 10 Solutions” and the United Nations “Act Now: Start with these 10 Actions” lists because they are so globally impactful for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. You can get tips on both a healthy, plant-rich diet and avoiding wasted food at Acterra’s Healthy Plate, Healthy Planet website. 

Wendy Chou is the Communications and Outreach Manager at Acterra.