Earth Day 2023 In Somerville: Things To Know And Do

SOMERVILLE, MA — Fifty-three years ago Saturday, planet warriors staged the first Earth Day, a celebration of eco-consciousness that now takes place in more than 190 countries and has grown to become the most widely observed nonreligious holiday in history.

There are plenty of ways to observe Earth Day, from parades and parties to cleanups, rallies and workshops. Here’s what’s going on in Somerville — if you know of anything else going on, post them or steer organizers to our events calendar.

• On Saturday, April 22, Groundwork Somerville will host a farm workday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., along with a community-wide celebration from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. filled with hands-on educational activities, games, music, and more. Enjoy family-friendly activities including scavenger hunts, voting on their next farm-mural, live music, seed-starting demonstrations, seed-packet give aways, tours of the farm and greenhouse, and additional activities presented by local environmental and climate organizations such as Conscious Planet and MAMAS Gardening Collective. Please RSVP for the workday here and the celebration here.
• On Sat, April 22, the Growing Center will host an Earth Day Growing Event (part of the city’s SustainaVille Week) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 22 Vinal Avenue. Enjoy a fun day of family friendly activities including planting flower or vegetable seeds to take home, hands-on nature based art activities, demonstrations of food preservation, and ways to attract pollinators to your home! Bring seeds for a seed swap!
• On Saturday, April 22 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., join the virtual discussion “Avocado Anxiety and Other Stories About Where Your Food Comes From” to make sense of the complex food system we are all part of. Register here for the event.

More About Earth Day

The modern environmental movement that began 53 years ago has brought about a sea change in how Americans view climate change, and many now regard it as an existential crisis. This year’s theme is “Invest In Our Planet,” a prod to governments, businesses, institutions and the 1 billion Earth Day participant to devote their resources to fighting climate change.

Earth Week officially kicked off Friday. A live series continuing through the week touches on a variety of urgent issues, from climate restoration, regenerative agriculture, environment and social justice, supply chain resilience, plastic pollution, resource scarcity, food security, the green economy, biodiversity restoration, universal climate literacy, and others.

Panelists range from public and private sector leaders to activists, scientists, influencers and beyond. Here is the schedule for the Earth Day live events scheduled to take place during Earth Week:

Local Earth Day celebrations are planned widely in the United States and around the world. Flagship U.S. Earth Day events include:

• A 5,000-volunteer-strong trash and debris cleanup from Hurricane Ian in Cape Coral, Florida;
• An Earth Day Jubilee hosted by Heal the Bay in Santa Monica, California;
• A rally to end the era of fossil fuels at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.; and
• A Pledge to Our Keiki Dive and cleanup, mobilizing about 700 volunteer divers across the Hawaiian Islands. Also, more than 20,000 volunteers are expected for 800 other events organized by 400 nonprofits to raise awareness of global pollution to the ecosystem.

Here are some things you can do on your own:

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 Somerville 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 Somerville 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 Somerville or upcycle unwanted clothing in some other way.