Earth Day: Meet Pete the Plant!

Hi there! My name is Pete the Plant. I’ve been part of the ShareASale office for over four years now and sit in the window every day watching over the employees and soaking up the Chicago sunlight.

Since today is Earth Day (my favorite day of the year), I want to tell you a little about the day and how people around the world celebrate it. 

Earth Day Facts

1. Earth Day started on April 22, 1970, by a US Senator with the goal to raise awareness of how our daily activity affects the environment. Today, it is estimated that 500 million people will take part in Earth Day celebrations in over 190 countries worldwide!
    
2. On Earth Day 2012, more than 100,000 people rode bikes in China to reduce CO2 emissions and save fuel.
    
3. In an Earth Day celebration in 2011, 28 million trees were planted in Afghanistan by the Earth Day Network.
    
4. In Panama, 100 endangered species of orchids were planted and maintained to prevent their extinction in honor of Earth Day.
    
5. The organizers of Earth Day have a goal of planting 7.8 billion trees!
    
6. The historic Paris Climate Change Agreement will be signed by 120 Nations on Earth Day 2016!

Earth Day Celebrations

Cities around the world are throwing all kinds of events to celebrate Earth Day! Major festivals are taking place all across the USA in places like Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, San Francisco and more!

A group of developers from all over the world is getting together to use technology to try to create apps and code to help solve the world’s overfishing problems this weekend. This project is great for Earth Day! 

Some easy things to do to celebrate Earth Day are as easy as not using plastic shopping bags, be meat and/or dairy free for a week or more, and one that I see a lot here in the ShareASale office, carry a reusable water bottle!

Many cities and towns have parades, clean up projects you can take part in, nature walks, even some simple gardening projects at local parks and businesses! Are you still looking for activities to participate in today? You will want to check with your town’s park district or go to this website. http://www.earthday.org/