This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The original day of action spurred the passages of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. But celebrating Earth Day this year is different so we asked some of our team how they are celebrating at home this year.
Tim Hansen, Founder and CEO: I’d like to say that every day is Earth Day at 350Solutions, because, really, doing something that has a positive impact on our planet is what we are all about. That said, Earth Day reminds us to check in and see how we are doing, personally, and as a company, put forth a little more effort, talk about it a little more, so maybe we influence someone else to do something positive.
So, what am I doing this Earth Day? First, I plan to enjoy a bike ride my neighboring greenways to enjoy some fresh air, exercise, and the outdoors. This weekend, I’ll plant some seeds in our garden (using the compost delivered from CompostNow from our composting efforts over the last year). And I am going to spend some time looking at ways we as a company can do more. I’ll be digging into what it takes to become a Certified B-Corp, looking at philanthropic efforts like 1% for the Planet, and evaluating options for how we can offset our corporate carbon emissions – mainly from travel (although that’s pretty limited right now!)
Kevin McCabe, Senior Mechanical Engineer: A few weeks back my wife and three-year old daughter planted some rosemary in indoor pots and we have been tracking the plants’ growth with the hope that soon we’ll be able to plant them in the backyard. My wife and I are both working from home with our daughter and while there are some neat online events happening today – we felt drawn to doing something more outside – that we could get our daughter involved in. So, we’re going to do a trash cleanup day on the trails and sidewalks outside our house.
Earth Day is hosting a 24-hours of action event online. The New York Times has an excellent interview with Denis Hayes, the originator of the Earth Day movement. From a scientific perspective, the Energy Futures Initiative and the Apsen Institute are hosting a free webinar at 3:00 p.m. ET discussing the impacts of climate change on human health, highlighting economic, security, and social equity issues.