Together, we have the power to Restore Our Earth.

EARTHDAY.ORG’s theme for Earth Day 2021 is Restore Our Earth™, which focuses on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems. In this way, the theme rejects the notion that mitigation or adaptation are the only ways to address climate change. It is up to each and every one of us to Restore Our Earth not just because we care about the natural world, but because we live on it. We all need a healthy Earth to support our jobs, livelihoods, health & survival, and happiness. A healthy planet is not an option — it is a necessity.

More than 1 billion people in 192 countries now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. Today, we invite you to be a part of Earth Day and to help further climate action across the globe. 

On this page, you will find key messaging and resources on Restore Our Earth. The toolkit includes all necessary materials to post on social media, write your own op-ed, or send a note to your network. 

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Restore Our Earth Campaigns


THE CANOPY PROJECT™ 

$1 = 1 tree. The Canopy Project partners with groups around the world to ensure that your donation sustainably plants trees for a greener future for everyone.

Key Messages:

  • Reforestation efforts capture carbon, cool overheated places, benefit agriculture, support pollinators, reduce the risk of disease transmission and boost local economies.
  • EARTHDAY.ORG recognizes that planting billions of trees across the world is one of the biggest and cheapest ways of taking CO2 out of the atmosphere to tackle the climate crisis. Not only do forests act as carbon sinks, but they also provide vital habitat for animals and ecological services for humans, such as purifying the air we breathe and regulating local temperatures. 
  • Responsible reforestation programs can stabilize land from erosion or natural disasters, improve soil health and groundwater recharge, promote native and endemic fauna, and provide economic development for nearby communities. 

FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT

To feed the world, we must adopt the latest techniques to support farmers, renew their land, and capture carbon through regenerative agriculture and sustainable food practices.

Key Messages:

  • A foodprint measures the environmental impacts associated with growing, producing, transporting, and storing our food — from the natural resources consumed to the pollution produced to the greenhouse gases emitted. 
  • Regenerative farming offers solutions to transform farmers into environmental and societal heroes. It promotes the health of degraded soils by restoring their organic carbon. Regenerative agriculture sequesters atmospheric carbon dioxide, reversing industrial agriculture’s contributions to climate change. Regenerative practices such as no till farming and cover cropping are reducing erosion and water pollution, and in turn producing healthier soils.
  • Regenerative agriculture counters climate change and promotes food security by restoring soil, organic matter, and biodiversity as well as reducing atmospheric carbon. It’s an evolving holistic nature-based approach that boosts topsoil, food production and farmers’ incomes. The robust soils and diverse ecosystems that its organic practices create yield more high-quality, nutrient-rich produce than conventional agriculture, fostering fruitful farms, healthy communities and thriving economies. 

THE GREAT GLOBAL CLEANUP™

When it comes to individual action for the common good, one of the best ways that people can make an impact for our planet is by cleaning up our public spaces. Our pollution problem is getting out of hand and our environment is suffering for it. Open landfills emit dangerous greenhouse gasses, waste and pollution that enter our oceans and freshwater. Microplastics even make it into our food and the air we breathe. 

Key Messages:

  • By connecting with the Earth in a tangible way through cleanups, individuals experience firsthand the extent of our single-use plastic problem, and begin to recognize how systemic our pollution and waste challenges are.
  • Through this global effort, cleanups reduce waste and plastic pollution, improve habitats, prevent harm to wildlife and humans and even lead to larger environmental action. 
  • The Great Global Cleanup advocates for both structural and individual change when it comes to pollution, promoting policies that reduce pollution and encouraging people everywhere to take individual actions that reduce waste.

CLIMATE LITERACY

Fifty years ago, the first Earth Day started an environmental revolution. Now, we are igniting an education revolution to save the planet. We are ensuring that students across the world benefit from high-quality education to develop into informed and engaged environmental stewards. 

Key Messages:

  • Combined with civic education, climate and environmental literacy will create jobs, build a green consumer market, and allow citizens to engage with their governments in a meaningful way to restore our earth.
  • EARTHDAY.ORG™ believes every school in the world must have compulsory, assessed climate and environmental education with a strong civic engagement component.
  • The campaign encourages the governments attending the crucial UNFCCC Conference of Parties in 2021 to make climate change and climate literacy a core feature of school curriculum across the globe. 

Global EARTH CHALLENGE

Global Earth Challenge™ gives citizen scientists the power to make the world a better place. Global Earth Challenge™ is the world’s largest-ever coordinated citizen science campaign. The initiative works to integrate existing citizen science projects, as well as build the capacity for new ones — all as part of a larger effort to grow citizen science worldwide.

Key Messages:

  • The campaign uses a mobile app to collect billions of observations in air quality, water quality, insect populations, climate change, plastic pollution and food sustainability, providing valuable environmental insight and a platform for policy change and restoration efforts in these areas. 
  • Global Earth Challenge™ connects, builds and enables global communities to leverage the power of scientific research to drive meaningful change. 

Social Media Guidance:

When life around the world returns to normal, our world cannot return to business-as-usual. Mass amounts of damage has already been done, but that does not mean we have to continue that legacy. We have the ability to make a difference in every industry, but that can only happen when we work together to #RestoreOurEarth. Join EARTHDAY.ORG in this movement and learn more about how you can get involved at: http://ow.ly/oTBf50Dmcae

Restoring Our Earth is bigger than one solution or one country’s efforts. We must come together as a global community to make changes, and more importantly make them quickly. Check out how you can get involved right now! http://ow.ly/oTBf50Dmcae 

I am excited to be part of EARTHDAY.ORG’s Restore Our Earth campaign for the 51st Earth Day! A more sustainable world requires efforts in every aspect of our society and that starts with YOU. If you want to learn more about plant based diets, how to contribute to reforestation efforts and many other initiatives check out http://ow.ly/oTBf50Dmcae to see how you can get involved today!

Join me, and  EARTHDAY.ORG in the fight to #RestoreOurEarth. We have the solutions, now we need you. Get started today by checking out the many resources here: http://ow.ly/oTBf50Dmcae

What does it mean to throw something away? What is away? Every piece of plastic ever created still exists on our planet and everyday we continue to produce more and more. It is time to stop the pollution of our natural habitats, clean up the mess we’ve made and find more sustainable solutions. Join EARTHDAY.ORG in its fight against #plasticpollution by finding a local cleanups in your area or registering your own here: https://cleanup.earthday.org 

It’s no secret our food systems take a toll on our planet, but that doesn’t mean individual efforts are insignificant! Learning more about your personal foodprint is the first step. Want to see for yourself? Check out the #foodprints calculators at EARTHDAY.ORG to see the impact your diet really has on the environment. https://www.earthday.org/foodprints-calculators/ 

We love our forests and you should too! These amazing spaces simultaneously capture carbon, cool overheated places, benefit agriculture, support pollinators, reduce the risk of disease transmission and boost local economies. Although deforestation has impacted our world on a large scale, there is still hope! With the help of our partners, The Canopy Project is able to sustainably plant 1 tree for every $1 — making a greener future for all. http://ow.ly/wV8z50Dmcke

EARTHDAY.ORG believes formal education isn’t complete without climate and environmental education, and we agree! Join the fight for #climateliteracy and learn more about the movement here: https://www.earthday.org/campaign/climate-environmental-literacy/ 

We have the ability to make a difference in every industry, but that can only happen when we all work together to #RestoreOurEarth. Join EARTHDAY.ORG in this movement and learn all the ways you can get involved at http://ow.ly/oTBf50Dmcae

I am excited to be part of EARTHDAY.ORG’s #RestoreOurEarth campaign for the 51st Earth Day! A more sustainable world requires efforts in every aspect of our society and that starts with all of us. See how you can get more involved here: http://ow.ly/oTBf50Dmcae

#RestoreOurEarth is bigger than one solution. We must come together as a global community to make lasting changes. Check out EARTHDAY.ORG’s ‘Take Action’ page to learn more about how to get involved right now! https://www.earthday.org/take-action-now/

When life around the world returns to normal, our world cannot return to business-as-usual. Mass amounts of damage has already been done, but that does not mean we have to continue that legacy. We have the ability to make a difference in every industry, but that can only happen when we work together to #RestoreOurEarth. I am excited to be part of EARTHDAY.ORG’s #RestoreOurEarth campaign for the 51st Earth Day! A more sustainable world requires efforts in every aspect of our society and that starts with YOU. Join us in the fight! Get started today by checking out the many resources at: http://ow.ly/oTBf50Dmcae

Suggested Hashtags:

#RestoreOurEarth #EarthDay #earthdayeveryday #plasticpollution #climateliteracy  #takeaction #Farmers4Earth

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Traditional Media Guidance:

*Note: Keep Op-Eds between 500 and 1,000 words and personalize as much as possible. Check a publication’s website for the appropriate op-ed editor contact information.

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[INSERT TITLE]

Climate change is occurring at an alarming rate and has many broad-reaching impacts on human health, the economy, and the stability of the natural environment. Increased emissions of greenhouse gases that trap heat and block it from escaping the atmosphere drive significant global disruption to climate systems as we know them. Low-income, indigenous, and communities of color are already bearing the brunt of climate change and are disproportionately on the front lines of environmental disasters. A healthy planet is not an option — it is a necessity.

[Insert personal connection/how climate change is impacting you or your community]

When life around the world returns to normal, our world cannot return to business-as-usual. We have the ability to make a difference in every industry, but that can only happen when we work together. Join EARTHDAY.ORG to Restore Our Earth as we come together to make clear that climate action and restoration cannot wait. Restore Our Earth focuses on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems. In this way, the campaign rejects the notion that mitigation or adaptation are the only ways to address climate change.

Restore Our Earth encompasses goals and actions including reforestation, regenerative agriculture and sustainable food, plastic cleanups, climate literacy, and citizen science. From capturing carbon and supporting the health and resilience of communities, to advocating for compulsory, assessed climate education, we have the ability to make lasting changes.

[restate personal connection paragraph]

More than 1 billion people in 192 countries now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. Today, I invite you to be a part of Earth Day and to help further climate action across the globe

Restoration is imperative to fighting climate change and making the Earth a safer, healthier, and more equitable place to live. It’s time to step up. It’s time to make a change. 

*Note: LTEs should be no more than 250 words. Check your local paper’s guidelines for submission. 

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Climate change is occurring at an alarming rate and has many broad-reaching impacts on human health, the economy, and the stability of the natural environment. Increased emissions of greenhouse gases that trap heat and block it from escaping the atmosphere drive significant global disruption to climate systems as we know them. Low-income, indigenous and communities of color are already bearing the brunt of climate change and are disproportionately on the front lines of environmental disasters. A healthy planet is not an option — it is a necessity.

[Insert personal connection/how climate change is impacting you or your community]

When life around the world returns to normal, our world cannot return to business-as-usual. We have the ability to make a difference in every industry, but that can only happen when we work together. Join EARTHDAY.ORG to Restore Our Earth, as we come together to make clear that climate action and restoration cannot wait. 

Restoration is imperative to fighting climate change and making the Earth a safer, healthier, and more equitable place to live. It’s time to step up. It’s time to make a change.

Have you become an Earth Day 2021 partner yet?


If you have any additional questions, please reach out to EARTHDAY.ORG’s Publicist, Olivia Altman, at [email protected] or EARTHDAY.ORG’s National Campaign Director, Terra Pascarosa, at [email protected].