Go Wild for Earth Day

April 18, 2008
3 min read

This lemur can’t contain his excitement for Earth Day…

You can celebrate Earth Day many ways: by picking up new eco-friendly habits, booking a green hotel getaway, or choosing from the host of other ideas featured at NG’s Preserve Our Planet website. But if you really want to dig in and get close to nature for the big day, we’ve got some options for you:

It’s pretty convenient that Earth Day happens to fall during National Park Week, which stretches from April 19 to 27 this year. The schedule of events

for the parks is pretty massive, but also quite impressive. You can check out a Earth Dance film festival in Yosemite, get creeped out by a “Skins and Skulls” program at Rocky Mountain National Park, go on a scavenger hunt in Kentucky’s Cumberland Gap park. There are also Junior Ranger Day programs for kids—hooking them up with activity books and badges, the latter of which makes us a bit jealous (also, we’d love to get our hands on a ranger hat).

Get some dirt under your nails with the National Wildlife Refuge System’sDo Something Wild for Earth Day” program. Hosted in a handful of states across the country, the program will bring in volunteers for a day of clean-up activities and coordinated tours, hikes, and other events.

The Wildlife Conservation Society, which oversees the zoos and animal parks throughout New York City, will be hosting Party for the Planet events at all five zoo locations April 21-27. Highlights include the  Human Footprint exhibit and the Recycled Animal Kingdom at the Bronx Zoo, and the “Seas the Day” events April 19-20 at the New York Aquarium, where they’ll be making a “wall-rus” Earth Day mural (and, we assume, many other puns).

The Keep American Beautiful campaign (the group whose iconic “Crying Indian” commercial, aired on the first Earth Day in 1971, was a harbinger of environmental awareness throughout the nation) is hosting the Great American Cleanup

through May 31. On Earth Day, they’ll be hosting a huge kick-off event in Times Square. Volunteers across the country can take part in other events as well, working to help rid parks and shorelines of litter, take part in recycling efforts, plant trees and flowers, and participate in educational programs.

The Nature Conservancy has a host of great tips for saving the planet on their site. Sign up for to volunteer to help clean up a park in your area, or just check out their online map of nature preserves to find a place to wander.

Photo: Constance Ordeman via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

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