Earth Day 2022 In Denver: Things To Know And Do

DENVER, CO — The first Earth Day was celebrated 52 years ago Friday, bringing about a change in how Americans defined air pollution — from the “smell of prosperity” to an existential health crisis.

The theme of Earth Day 2022, in recognition of the climate crisis, is “Invest In Our Planet,” according to the nonprofit EarthDay.org, which grew out of the first Earth Day observance on April 22, 1970.

Earth Day events sponsored by the organization will be held around the country, including several in Colorado.

• Earth Day Picnic & March to Rally at the Federal Reserve, Colorado State Capitol 200 E Colfax Ave Denver, CO 80203
• 2nd Annual Indigenous Wisdom to Face Modern Challenges, 160 South Monaco Pkwy, Denver, CO 80224
• Community Drive-Through Electronics Collection Event, PCs for People, 6035 E 38th St, Denver, CO, 80207, USA
• UNIFY Global Earth Day Broadcast and Meditation, Online fb.com/unify

Earth Day isn’t just a day for activists and big rallies, though. It’s also a day for individual action that contributes toward the group’s ambitious goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century and lowering the world’s temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here are five things you can do and habits you can adopt on Earth Day to address climate change:

1. Don’t Drive; Walk Or Bike Instead

Did you know that parking the car and walking or biking to where you need to get in Denver would significantly reduce your carbon footprint?

That’s according to an Imperial College London study published in the journal Global Environmental Change. The study, the first to look at how lifestyle changes can reduce carbon emissions, found that was the case even in European cities where many people already walk and cycle to their destinations.

2. Plant Some Trees

If everyone in Denver joined with billions of others and planted a tree, an area the size of the United States could be reforested, increasing the world’s tree canopy by a third without disrupting agriculture or city development, and blotting out about 100 years of carbon emissions.

That’s according to “The global tree restoration potential,” the first study ever to look at how many trees the planet can support.

“Our study clearly shows that forest reforestation is the best climate change solution available today, lead author of the study, ETH Zürich researcher Tom Crowther, said in a statement to National Geographic.

However, National Geographic said it could take more than 100 years to add enough mature forest to achieve significant carbon reduction, especially as about 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide — the result of burning fossil fuels — are added to the atmosphere every year, Glen Peters, research director at Norway’s Center for International Climate Research, told National Geographic.

3. Don't Buy Fast Fashion

The average American discards 80 pounds of clothing a year, and 85 percent of it ends up in landfills, where the material used to make it produces methane. Although carbon dioxide has a longer-lasting effect on climate change, methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

One way to offset that is to stop buying cheap, trendy fashion that goes out of style quickly, according to Columbia Climate School at Columbia University. It’s often shipped from low-wage countries overseas, so the use of fossil fuels to get it here also adds to a person’s individual carbon footprint.

A more sustainable approach is to buy higher-quality, U.S.-manufactured clothing. Or even better, Columbia Climate School advises, buy vintage or recycled clothing at thrift and consignment stores around Denver or upcycle unwanted clothing in some other way.

4. Switch Out Your Lightbulbs

If you haven’t already switched out your lightbulbs — away from incandescent bulbs that waste 90 percent of their energy as heat to LEDs (light emitting diodes) — Earth Day is a good time to do so. LED bulbs use a quarter of the energy as incandescent bulbs and last 25 times as long.

LEDs are also preferable to compact fluorescent bulbs sometimes found in table lamps, according to Columbia Climate School. They emit about 80 of their energy as heat, and they also contain mercury.

A couple of other easy ways to save energy and reduce your carbon footprint: Lowering the water heater thermostat to 120 degrees Fahrenheit will save about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide a year; and installing a low-flow shower head will save about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

Also, turn off lights when leaving a room, unplug electronic devices when they’re not in use, and lower your thermostat in the winter and raise it in the summer.

5. Change How You Eat

Another effective way to reduce your carbon footprint is to change how you eat. Published research supports adding more plant-based meals and steering away from red meat in particular because it uses a lot of feed, water and land to produce and also produces methane gas. (It’s important to point out, though, that not everyone agrees beef production is bad for the planet.)

But research supporting more plant-based diets is plentiful:

A 2017 study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters found red meat production can have more than 100 times the environmental impact as plant-based foods.

• Related: Meat That Never Mooed, Oinked Or Clucked Changes How America Eats

And according to University of Michigan researchers, 6 pounds of carbon dioxide were emitted in the production of a single serving of beef. Comparatively, less than half a pound of carbon dioxide was produced in the production of a single serving of rice, legumes, carrots, apples or potatoes.

Another University of Michigan study comparing the environmental costs of quarter-pound plant-based and beef burgers found the former requires 99 percent less water and 93 percent less land, results in 90 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions and requires only about half the energy to produce.

You don’t have to go whole hog in cutting meat from your diet, but adding vegan or vegetarian meals a few times a week can reduce your carbon footprint, according to experts.