Today is National Skyscraper Day – a time to reflect on how our cities are reaching new heights alongside rising populations, increased housing demands, and, consequently, higher emissions. But what steps are builders and communities taking to lessen the environmental impact of skyscrapers? Architects have a new role, reduce emissions and adapt to climate change all while keeping the buildings useful and aesthetically welcoming. 

The Growing Urban World

Globally, buildings account for about 30–40% of global energy consumption, making them one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions that are directly linked to climate change. Urban populations are going to continue to grow – in fact more than 50% of the world population lives in cities, and it is expected 2.4 billion more people will be urban by 2050. And more people means more  energy demands from residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings can go a long way in addressing environmental concerns, and can deliver tangible economic and health benefits. Lower operating costs, puts money back into the pockets of all those involved in these buildings; tenants, builders, architects and the like. 

Back to the Basics 

To achieve more efficiency in buildings, a wide array of technology and design decisions are being deployed across new construction and updating of existing buildings. Some of these solutions are relatively simple and have been practiced for millenia, like placing buildings strategically to best maximize on natural ventilation, which can cut cooling costs in half, and light, which can save 40% of the cost of lighting. Other technologies like improved insulation, smart air systems, lighting and appliances designed to reduce energy use further decrease  demand while keeping up with the much needed functionality. This combo of old thinking and new technology can maximize the use of our buildings!

Energy in, Energy Out

A global shift to energy efficient buildings is already well under way and increasingly intertwined with the rise of net-zero and net- positive construction. These new buildings are designed to minimize energy consumption but also generate enough energy from on site renewable systems. A net-zero building merely balances energy use and consumption, while a net-positive gives back to the grid through its own power generation. This evolution in building is driven by technological innovation coupled with the awareness that man-made environments are large contributors to greenhouse gases, but can actually become solutions! Solar photovoltaic panels, geothermal heat pumps, and small scale wind turbines can be integrated into buildings and landscapes, providing a futuristic look, reducing costs, and better for the planet. 

The Future is Here!

This may sound like a pipe dream, but it’s already happening across the globe. In Amsterdam, you have The Edge, opened in 2014 and cited as the the smartest and most sustainable office building in the world. It generates more energy that is consumed through its extensive solar array and energy management systems. The building is covered in sensors that optimize lighting, temperature, and occupancy. Here in the United States, we have the PAE Living Building, located in Portland, Oregon and designed to last 5 centuries. This building generates over 100% of its energy needs via solar power and harnesses 100% of its water from rain entrapments. During construction over 98% of waste was diverted, much of which has gone to community equity via shared renewable infrastructure. 

The transition to energy-efficient, renewable powered buildings is happening and happening fast. Buildings are being retrofitted and new ones are being built, all to optimize energy efficiency. Retrofitting tends to be even more eco-friendly than new construction because you are not producing new materials such as steel or concrete that act as the foundation for the building. Incremental updates can also be carried out, which for many builders can be more economical. First replace the light bulbs for more efficiency and then move onto updating your HVAC system, then keep on going through improving insulation where you can, like replacing windows. 

However, retrofitting can come with significant constraints. Many older buildings were not designed with energy efficiency in mind, making it challenging to incorporate modern systems without major structural or spatial compromises. Outdated layouts may not accommodate efficient HVAC or renewable energy systems, while limited space can restrict the installation of insulation, ductwork, or solar panels. Additionally, legacy electrical and mechanical systems can be costly or complex to upgrade, often requiring custom solutions that add time and expense.

That said, retrofitting remains a powerful tool where demolition and new construction may not be feasible. Innovative solutions such as modular energy systems, high-efficiency window replacements, green roofs, and smart building controls are increasingly being used to modernize older skyscrapers. 

In contrast, new construction offers a blank canvas (albeit within regulatory limits) enabling architects and engineers to design with energy saving at the forefront, seamlessly integrating those technologies. 

Push for Policy 

Policy frameworks are essential to scaling these approaches, retrofit and new construction. Building performance standards, such as those implemented by the European Union’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, is putting pressure on jurisdictions to set minimum energy thresholds for new and existing buildings. Other certifications such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), BREEAM ( Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), are among other certifications that can incentivize building to be more efficient. But why wait to improve efficiency, these updates and upgrades save money and help the planet. To me it is a no brainer. 

That’s why the EPA’s authority under the Endangerment Finding, which enables the agency to regulate climate pollution from buildings and other sources, is so vital. Weakening or eliminating this authority would undermine decades of climate action and stall momentum just as we need it most. If we want cleaner, healthier, and more efficient buildings in every community, we need strong policies, and strong public support, to make it happen. Add your name to our public comments and help defend the EPA’s ability to act on climate.

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is also cleared for use. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org. Want more articles? Follow us on substack.

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How you can get involved and be part of the movement

There are so many ways to make a difference for our planet on Earth Day, April 22, and every day. Join millions worldwide in Earth Day 2025 activities, attend a local event or plan and register your own. Or support our calls to action, join our Social Squad or plant trees! Below you’ll find resources and ideas to help you support Earth Day in your community, at home, at work and at school. 

1. Sign the Renewable Energy Petition: Join us in urging governments across the world to prioritize the tripling of renewable energy from sources like solar, wind, geothermal by 2030. Help us reach 55,000 signatures by Earth Day 2025.

2. Plant Trees: It’s easy – you can make a donation to our Canopy Project and we’ll plant them for you in communities most at-risk from climate change and environmental degradation. We have been planting millions of trees since 2010 in India, Uganda, Mexico, Madagascar, South Africa, and Bangladesh.  

3. Create: Your own event under our global campaign the Great Global Clean Up You can organize a clean-up in your community or you can find an existing clean up near you on our special map. We have a free toolkit you can download to make it easy!

4. Enjoy: Share our new theme’s groovy 40 second sizzle reel and help make it go viral:  6 Months To Earth Day 2025

5. Watch: 22 Minutes With: Listen to one of the original founders of Earth Day from 1970,  Denis Hayes, reveal why he is backing  renewable energy. 

6. Read: 7 Fun Facts About Renewable Energy You Never Knew, these watercooler facts might surprise you or read our Explainers.

7. Join our Social Squad: Looking for opportunities to support the environmental movement from the comfort of your own chair? Join the Earth Day social squad here and we’ll send you posts to spread the news with a simple click. Follow us and comment on our posts on IG, LinkedIn, You Tube, X and facebook.

8. Click: On our Global Energy Map. Explore what countries are doing to transition towards renewable energy as every week we update the map with more nations and intriguing facts!

9. Ace our new quiz: Test your knowledge with our Renewable Energy Quiz then find out What Kind of Renewable Energy Are You?

10. Donate: Donating to Earth Day is easy! Your support makes it possible for us to advocate for the health of the planet, wildlife and us! It means we can keep campaigning for clean, renewable energy, organizing Earth Day events across the globe, influencing policy makers and creating educational content to freely share. Act now in support of Earth Day 2025  – make smart energy choices for your family and demand rapid renewable energy deployment from your governments, industries, and businesses. THANK YOU!!!

The post Earth Day 2025: Ten Activities, Events, and Resources appeared first on Earth Day.

Plastics are all over the planet. Plastics are in our bodies, our food, our air, and our soil, all of this we are getting more familiar with. But plastics are also in the human penis and that takes some getting used to – it is disgusting, disheartening, and an all around bummer, but true. What is more disturbing however is how it got there in the first place and what impact it is having on us. 

A new study from the International Journal of Impotence Research, recently reported that it had detected microplastics in all of the test subject’s penises. This is leading to many questioning just what is being put into our bodies and what effect it is having on us. Plastics and the additive chemicals used in their production have been linked to an increase of infertility amongst men and are potentially linked to impotence as well. 

This should be alarming to everyone with a penis. If any other industry was actively causing erectile dysfunction and infertility as blatantly as the plastics industry, it wouldn’t be tolerated. So why do we continue to give plastics a pass? Many of the additives that leach out of plastics include chemicals called phthalates or plasticizers, which make plastics more flexible. Or chemical compounds like BPA (Bisphenol A), which make plastics more durable. BPA is already classified as an Endocrine Disrupting Chemical (EDC) which means it comes with a whole host of health related issues all of its own. 

Research suggests the health implications presented by microplastics and their additive chemicals extend to children even before birth. There’s evidence microplastics can interrupt maternal-fetal communication and potentially damage DNA. Some studies report finding links between microplastics and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Reports have linked microplastics to autism and other endocrine disruption issues which can (amongst other things) manifest as early onset puberty. As well as association with some cancers, including in the prostate gland of fetuses.

So, imagine a scenario where a well-known razor company suddenly announces, “Sorry folks, but as it turns out what you have been shaving with has been depositing tiny bits of metal into your genitals and making you infertile.” Public reaction would be one of pure outrage and panic. No one would trust the brand, everyone would stop shaving and people would demand answers and accountability immediately.

Now, let’s consider plastic. Plastic is one of the most, if not the most ubiquitous man-made material, on Earth. We have it wrapping our food, in our toiletries, our carpets, furniture, clothes, cars, toys, it’s in our medical devices, and a large component of our modern electronics. Despite its startling widespread use, scrutiny and monitoring of plastic is minimal. Unlike the hypothetical razor blades that would incite immediate and widespread concern, with a worldwide ban in days, plastic has discreetly integrated itself into nearly every aspect of our lives with zero accountability.

Scientists now have a database of the known chemicals that are utilized in the production of plastics. There are 16,000 plastic chemicals and at least 4,200 are extremely toxic to humans, and only 980 of those have been regulated across the globe. 

Up until recently all health implications have been largely ignored, maybe this new ‘penis problem’ will wake everyone up to the reality that plastics are an environmental and human health problem!

The post Men vs. Plastics appeared first on Earth Day.

Pet ownership has surged and increasingly their “needs” are being listened to and have made our families furry! It’s big business.

But the truth is our pets shape our daily routines, our lifestyle choices, where we live, and environmental consciousness. I myself am a self-confessed, over-the-top pet parent. I understand the relationships and bonds we build with our pets are deep and while for some that may seem extreme — it doesn’t change the reality that I love my dogs. Buzz and Sally Rider are important to me and my wife and we want both them to be healthy and happy.

Beyond the walks, the playtime, and the cuddles lies the largely unspoken issue of plastics and its potential health effects on our best friends. 

Buzz and Sally Ride are truly beloved, each with their own unique background and personality. My wife and I rescued Buzz about 5 years ago while we were living in Wilmington, North Carolina and still in college and he quickly became our best friend. We consider him to be the perfect dog. Sally Ride is our sassy, wild, foxhound who is 100% great if somewhat unruly, who  entered our lives while I was living in Stumpy Point, North Carolina looking for a companion to ride out with me while I was working in wetland reclamation. Long, often boring days alone were transformed into real adventures when she started to join me. Sally Ride made me see the landscape with new eyes, I noticed more because she noticed more. I was more alert and more in tune with nature because this little furball forced me to be. 

These dogs are part of my family and are akin to my children. I don’t have to apologize for that.

The detrimental effects of plastics on our environment are well-documented and have become part of the mainstream environmental debate when it comes to pollution and increasingly, thanks to reports like Babies vs. Plastics, their impact on human health.  Be it pollution in our oceans or the harmful chemicals released during plastic production or the impact of plastic chemicals leaking out of our landfills or contaminating our air, our soil and our homes — the toll of plastic is beyond what anyone could have anticipated. However, what is largely overlooked is the direct and often negative impact of plastics on our pets’ health and well-being. 

Plastic toys pose many risks to our furry companions. Beyond being a potential choking or obstruction hazard, most plastic toys have little to no regulation and contain harmful chemicals like phthalates and BPA, which can leach out into our pets system through chewing and prolonged contact. These chemicals have been linked to hormone disruption, reproductive problems, and even cancers, in many species of animals including humans and of course dogs and cats.

Plastic food and water bowls can harbor bacteria and other pathogens, and are generally more difficult to clean compared to stainless steel or ceramics. They can also shed microplastics and plastic related chemicals into the water and the food they contain, which our pets then ingest.

Writing the Pet vs Plastics made me realize that the ‘system’ does NOT put our pet’s interest first, it favors profits and often plays lip service to really protecting our pets. 

So now I am on alert, I am consciously trying to take the polymers out of my pet’s lives.  My wife Emily and I have made changes in our own lives to keep our wonder dogs  safe — we opt for more natural materials when it comes to toys and the blankies.  Believe me, our dogs have hidden them away in every corner of our apartment. 

We have sourced the best kibble we can afford and replaced canned pet food for cooked sweet potatoes and chicken, even deboned fish sometimes. They need smaller portions as a result as it’s healthier and has a higher protein content. We scour the web for plastic free everything for them and are generally much more aware of everything now that we realize how much plastic our dogs can and have been coming into contact with. 

The Pets vs. Plastics report is not meant to scare pet parents. It was written to inform and inspire and to bring more individuals into the anti-plastic fold. We want to highlight how good of a job the plastics and petrochemical industry, by the way one and the same, has done implanting themselves everywhere, almost insidiously in every corner of our lives.

Our pets give us so much. We rely on them for love, companionship and their unwavering loyalty. The bare minimum we can do to protect them is to move away from plastics and protect them from plastic toxic chemicals.

Make small changes in your life to protect them, which could be as small as giving them a wooden stick rather than a plastic frisbee or perhaps cooking their meals from items you get from the grocery store. It may sound ridiculous, but boiling some chicken and feeding sweet potatoes (as long as your pet can handle it) can go a long way in prolonging and improving the life of your best pal. They say cooking is a form of love, potentially even for your dog and cat.

Think of moving away from plastic as a health issue. Our pets are only a part of our lives for a short while, because their life expectancy is so much smaller than our own, why not make it the best it can be? Love them, cherish them and make sure you get the plastics out of their lives. When I look at Buzz and Sally Ride, I know I will never be able to repay the love they have given me, but I am determined to try. And for me that means NO MORE PLASTICS.

That’s why we are releasing the Pets vs. Plastics report, it’s dedicated to my dogs and the deep love I have for them and all pets, everywhere. Choose pets over plastics. Read the report here.

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Earth Day is celebrated all over the world every April 22 with more than one billion people taking the time to advocate for the planet and the health of all living things. From joining the Great Global Clean Up, to backing calls for the teaching of climate education in every school, to signing the Global Plastic Treaty – there are endless ways to get involved.

Each year Earth Day has a theme, set by EARTHDAY.ORG – the organization created by the same people who invented and orchestrated the first Earth Day 54 years ago. This year’s theme is Planet vs. Plastics. Why?

Because plastic pollutes our planet and its production produces greenhouse gasses (GHGs) that contributes to climate change. Right now, the manufacture of plastics accounts for 4% of GHG emissions but if we continue our present plastic producing trajectory this could triple by the year 2060.

Plastics are made from oil, and are therefore a part of the fossil fuel industry. The vast majority of plastic is never recycled but instead contributes to an epic waste crisis as well as killing wildlife. Now, there’s growing evidence we are inhaling and ingesting tiny particles of plastics, known as microplastics, as well as toxic chemicals leaching out of them.

Humans are not designed to ingest plastics, so it’s not surprising that there is growing evidence of associated health risks. Research suggests the health implications presented by microplastics and their additive chemicals are particularly relevant to babies both before and after birth. In one recent study, 100 percent of placentas tested had microplastics. 

It’s not just babies that are impacted; some studies report finding associations between microplastics and specific cancers, Alzheimer’s and a new study of heart patients undergoing plaque removal surgery found polyethylene microplastics in nearly 60% of them.

We will likely never be able to limit ingesting and inhaling plastics completely but here are some tips to help mitigate your intake:

Limiting plastics on the menu:

1. Avoid eating too much red meat. There’s growing evidence red meat contains plastic particles and shellfish consume microplastics which then remain in their digestive tracts!  Aim, to make wise protein choices!
2. Try to sweep or vacuum as much as possible in your home because dust is full of plastic fibers and particles.
3. We all know single-use plastic water bottles are bad for the environment.  But, now there’s new evidence the water in single use plastic bottles can contain up to 240 000 nano particles of plastic per bottle.
4. Try to avoid microwaving your food in plastic containers because the heat releases plastic chemicals, like BPA, into your food.
5. Use as few toiletries as possible because they often contain plastic chemicals like phthalates. Plus, the plastic packaging used in the beauty and personal-care market creates vast amounts of plastic pollution. In 2018, 7.9 BILLION rigid units of plastic packaging were created in the US alone!
6. Some studies have found leafy vegetables contain less microplastics than root vegetables, so opt to include them in your recipes.
7. Finally avoid wearing polyester, it’s a textile made of plastic which sheds microplastic fibers you will end up breathing in.

The one key thing ALL of us can do this Earth Day to ensure we ALL cut back on our plastic consumption is to call for governments around the world negotiating on the UN Global Plastic Treaty to drastically limit plastic production by 60% by 2040. 

This year, these critically important UN led negotiations are taking place in Ottawa, Canada, on April 22, which is of course Earth Day!

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Babies vs. Plastics Report

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Plastics is not a subject that most of us go to sleep obsessing over or wake up consumed by. But when you are writing a report for EARTHDAY.ORG entitled, BABIES VS. PLASTICS, plastics literally become your life. 

Plastic is an omnipresent material in our lives. Made from oil and a selection of other, often  toxic chemicals,  plastics envelop our world: from wrapping our food, to filling our homes with ‘stuff’ and now even creating the clothes we wear. 

Yet, despite the prevalence of plastics, the health implications associated with them have remained largely absent from the media. Until now that is. Finally, new research has started to gather  much needed evidence showcasing just how harmful exposure to plastics might be.

The world of microplastics is a complex puzzle of tiny plastic particles, not even acknowledged until 2004, when an oceanographer from Plymouth University, Prof. Richard Thompson, named them.  His research showed they had been present in the world’s oceans since the 1960’s and now they are pretty much everywhere. Microplastics are in the air we breathe, every body of water we interact with and in the food chain. It is impossible to escape their presence even if you set out to do just that.

One of the most shocking revelations writing this report was that babies and infants appear to have over 10 times higher rates of microplastics in their feces samples than adults.  It’s not hard to figure out why – babies rely heavily on taste to decode their world and that involves putting practically everything into their mouths. Including a lot of plastic toys, soothers and plastic bottles. Which means they are ingesting tiny plastic particles.  

Scientists from Trinity College, Dublin,  in Ireland published a study  in October 2020, which estimated infants could ingest up to 4.5 million plastic particles per day when fed from polypropylene baby bottles.  

In a  study from 2023, scientists found microplastics had been released into the disposable storage bags used for expressed breast milk.  They reported finding microplastics, most commonly polyethylene (PE),  polyethylene terephthalate¹⁴ (PET), and nylon-6. This equates to between 0.61–0.89 mg/day of microplastics in the average daily breastmilk intake by infants drinking breast milk stored this way. 

Another startling observation was that the dangers of plastic are found in higher concentrations indoors. Making our homes and workplaces potential hotbeds for exposure. The very spaces we consider safe and clean may be harboring invisible threats, with potential long-term health consequences. Which is even more worrying when you consider that babies spend 90% of their time indoors.  From the age of 6 months to roughly a year, babies typically spend a great deal of time crawling on the ground as well. Which means coming into contact with yet more microplastics in household dust. So, it is not hard to understand why babies are potentially predisposed to ingest and inhale microplastics at higher rates than adults.

One of the other surprising things that emerged from our study was the revelation that older microplastics, which have weathered the elements and undergone degradation, might be even more dangerous than their virgin counterparts. As plastics break down over time, they can release harmful chemicals into the environment around them. That environment might be inside our own bodies. 

Many of the additives that leach out include chemicals called phthalates or plasticizers, such as PFAS (Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances), which make plastics more flexible. Or chemical compounds like BPA (Bisphenol A), which make plastics more durable. BPA is already classified as an Endocrine Disrupting Chemical (EDC) which means it comes with a whole host of health related issues all of its own. All of these substances have been linked to various sorts of cancer.

The bad news does not stop there. Microplastics are also vectors for bacteria and viruses as well as attracting heavy metals and other toxic chemicals that adsorb onto them.  This could all have significant implications for human health.

The evidence against microplastics being safe to inadvertently consume is perhaps not surprisingly mounting but there is a glaring lack of government regulations surrounding microplastics. This regulatory failure raises questions about the extent to which fossil fuel corporations, who own the vast majority of the plastics industry, and their lobbyists influence how and what we regulate at a federal level. 

The imbalance between corporate interests and public welfare is a huge and omnipresent concern that feels like it has a David and Goliath size imbalance hard wired in. As plastic production sets to double by 2040, it’s one we cannot back away from. 

If you want to get involved and be part of the movement that stands up to the fossil fuel  owned plastics industry EARTHDAY.ORG invites you to sign our Global Plastics Treaty to call on the United Nations and governments around the world to commit to a 60% reduction of all fossil fuel-based plastic production by 2040. The fight, Planet vs. Plastics, has only just begun — it’s a fight we cannot afford to lose.  The health of our children depends on it.

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The study of microplastics is a relatively new endeavor, making it difficult to truly quantify the amount of plastics floating around in our bodies. Nevertheless, emerging scientific research is uncovering indications of microplastics penetrating deep into our physiological systems. They have been detected within the placenta, circulating in our bloodstream, infiltrating the heart, and even breaching the blood-brain barrier, leading to repercussions still in the early stages of comprehension.

Researchers from the University of Rhode Island led by Dr. Jamie Robinson recently released a study linking microplastic ingestion and exposure with changes in mental behaviors, especially in older mice. Experiments took place over the course of 3 weeks, giving different aged mice small amounts of microplastic via a water dish. After the 3 weeks of exposure, the mice were put through a series of tests and observations in which researchers observed an increase in anxiety and a decrease in mental acuity especially in the older test subjects.

These new behaviors exhibited by the tested mice subjects are similar to those of humans with dementia. While human tests are a long way down the road, any of these signs showing up in any mammal should sound alarm bells for governments, industry, and the public at large. The study also goes on to discuss the bioaccumulation of plastics within the rat’s organ system, most notably the liver and brain. 

Three weeks of exposure was enough to cause harm in mice – who knows the damage the lifetime of exposure humans go through may cause? Plastics cover everything in our lives– it wraps our food, it is used to make the clothes we wear, it makes up our playgrounds, our throwaway containers and utensils, and even our tires constantly shed plastics into the air. 

We are consuming this plastic waste (unintentionally) every time we eat, breathe, and take a sip of water (yes this includes sodas, tea, and any other liquid you can drink). Plastic is unavoidable, but it has not always been this way. The petrochemical and fossil fuel industries have convinced us that plastic is necessary to function, that we need it everywhere, and that it doesn’t harm us. Studies have said differently. 

The implications of this study are wide ranging and almost too terrible to contemplate. While research is still very new, there does appear to be a connection between the increase in dementia rates globally and the near doubling of plastic production over the last 20 years. Diseases like dementia can in turn lead to huge healthcare costs for the individual and  for the entire nation’s medical systems. It’s another important dimension to our growing plastic problem. 

How did we get to this point? Where a material we know so little about, becomes so ubiquitous and yet is possibly causing irreparable harm. Why have governments around the world and the industry itself allowed this to happen? It begs the question: what do plastic manufacturers know about microplastics and when are they going to start telling us? 

While it is hard to be absolutely certain plastics are leading to increased dementia rates, it is time to recognize we should not be using any product made up of fossil fuels mixed with thousands of unregulated chemicals, designed for one-time use, and broken down into pieces small enough to penetrate the brain. It’s time to curb plastic production, currently standing globally at 380 million tons a year,  and increase research into its health implications.

It is time for the public to tell their leaders and industry we need to recognize plastics as public enemy number one. Sign on to our plastics petition and demand some accountability. Right now plastics and health is not in the Treaty. Let’s change that! Let’s make sure the health implications of plastics are being addressed in the Global Plastics Treaty, and in national and local legislation. The era of excessive plastic usage must come to an end.

The post Are Microplastics Causing Upticks in Dementia?  appeared first on Earth Day.

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Education is at the core of the environmental movement. It’s where Earth Day got its original start in 1970 and remains a huge part of our mission today, including our efforts in reforestation and conservation with our global campaign, The Canopy Project. 

Climate and environmental literacy doesn’t just mean teaching school children the importance of recycling or a board room best practices in sustainable development, it means implementing action. Each reforestation project we do at EARTHDAY.ORG includes community engagement and education to guarantee the trees planted last a multiple human lifetimes and can be a pillar of good that will last generations. ,  creating a lasting impact for both the environment and the individuals. 

The climate emergency is getting worse, and those most vulnerable are seeing an increase of sea levels, temperatures, and the severity of storms. The World Health Organization estimates there will be an additional quarter million deaths every year from malnutrition, malaria, heat stress, and other diseases related directly to a changing climate. Tree planting is one of the simplest and easiest ways to contribute to the climate fight, which is why we strive to plant millions of trees every year. 

Teaching the community about the dangers of over-harvesting trees and the numerous benefits of new tree plantings, including river bank securement, water filtration, habitat restoration, and carbon sequestration has immense benefits. Communities use these trees beyond just timber or heating use and unleash the full potential of the forests and their land. In Bangladesh we planted 100,000 mangrove trees along the banks of the Rupsha River.  Mangroves have a unique almost maze-like root system that is the perfect breeding ground for marine life. Many in the area depend on fishing to provide for their families and these trees go a long way toward maintaining and enhancing the  fish population. 

The communities and farmers near each planting site are taught the benefits of planting trees within their farms to help preserve the land, keeping them from being trampled over by livestock and creating shade for some less sun-tolerant crops, such as coffee. Our project in Uganda educated the local population the importance of maintaining wooded areas to help prevent detrimental landslides. The trees EARTHDAY.ORG planted there have  acted to secure the mountainside and help prevent another catastrophe in that region. Trees do this through their complex root systems, they prevent the soil from getting compacted allowing water to seep in rather than just flow on top. Flowing on top is what moves large amounts of matter, eroding away the landscape. 

Just like the trees planted, education can be passed on from generation to generation. If we want to leave a better world for the next generation, it starts with planting a tree through EARTHDAY.ORG’s The Canopy Project.

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Biodiversity is essential to life on this planet – without it, we don’t eat or breathe. All systems fall apart without biological variability. EARTHDAY.ORG and The Canopy Project are making strides to preserve biodiversity through reforestation in two key areas of the world, Madagascar and Brazil. 

The forests of Madagascar and Brazil have been hit hard by the effects of deforestation. This year, EARTHDAY.ORG and our partners are working to plant an initial 115,000 trees in these two countries to mitigate some of the effects of deforestation and protect species that are unique to these sections of the world. 

In Brazil, we are working to reforest the habitat of the Golden Lion Tamarin by creating wildlife corridors through connecting old growth forests with new growth. The Golden Lion Tamarin is a small species of primate found only in the canopy of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, located South of São Paulo. During the 1960’s the species almost went extinct, but because of reforestation efforts such as The Canopy Project, the population is now up to 2,750 from 200. This is quite the comeback and, with our reforestation efforts, the population and genetic diversity should only increase moving forward. 

On the other side of the Atlantic, another reforestation project is underway on the coast of Madagascar. 

Madagascar boasts one of the most unique ecosystems in the world, home to many endemic species  such as lemurs. Our efforts in Madagascar work to plant varieties of trees that will benefit both wild populations of lemurs and the local communities. We chose to plant specific tree varieties such as the traveler’s tree (Ravenala madagascariensis)  and Madagascar giant bamboo (Cathariostachys madagascariensis) for lemur species based on their eating patterns. These efforts can benefit the biodiversity of the area by replanting areas that were once agricultural and turning them back to endemic forest species. By examining the feces of the native lemurs, a team was able to determine the fruits they eat most. Our planting partners then set out to plant these tree species in areas that would most benefit populations of lemurs. 

The Canopy Project also works to plant cash crops, plants that may be sold for money, to benefit the local population, including vanilla and clove. These cash crops help stimulate the local economy whilst sequestering large amounts of carbon and can lower the amount of illegal timber farming.

On top of economic stimulus and habitat rehabilitation, we work in both areas to educate the public on best agricultural practices and how endemic tree plantings can better the whole community. With the knowledge gained communities can better realize the forests are not something to be taken advantage of but something that can benefit them if they remain in their natural state.   
By donating to The Canopy Project you can help support these projects and others like it around the world. In 2022 alone we are projected to plant nearly 3 million trees worldwide; with your help, we can plant much more in 2023!

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