Earth Week Around the World
April 22 is a day that more than a billion people celebrate now. Earth Day is meant to bring awareness to problems the Earth faces, like pollution and deforestation. The first Earth Day was in 1970 when Senator Gaylord Nelson organized an event to show the large support for environmental issues throughout the United States. Shortly after that, more than 140 countries started to celebrate Earth Day. Many countries celebrate in different ways, some even have different names for their Earth Day celebrations.
Copenhagen, Denmark celebrates Earth Day United is the celebration of Earth Day with drum-playing. After an address by an important speaker, there is a circle of drum-playing, aimed at the four corners of the world. After the drum-playing, the groups are invited to join the March for Science that happens throughout Copenhagen. 
London celebrates Empower Earth Day with several bands performing that raise funds for charities and groups fighting against climate change. The Empower Earth Day features environmental speakers, dance, yoga, shamans, and much more! British Columbia holds a similar festival and parade with various educational talks and activities. This is held in Vancouver and sponsored by the Youth for Climate Justice Now. Lanjaron, Spain holds a 24-hour event called the Global Unity and Regeneration Gathering. This event focuses on presentations and workshops on environmentalism, healing, and awakening.
Tokyo, Japan celebrates Earth Day in a two-day event in Yoyogi Park. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the event and learn about businesses that use sustainable methods and materials and organizations that promote environmental protection. South Africa calls April 22, International Mother Earth Day. South Africa holds this Earth Expo which is a week-long event with educational forums on several different topics. These topics include nutrition, fashion, technology and entrepreneurship, and making businesses more sustainable.
In the United States, we have the March for Science that includes 425 locations around the world but the largest one is in Washington, D.C. All groups of people gather to celebrate Earth Day. This year, the theme surrounding Earth Day is ‘Invest in Our Planet’, this is meant to encourage people to think about where their dollar vote goes while sparking conversation. There are several online events and on-campus events going on for Earth Week! If you want to get involved with the National Earth Day efforts, there are online opportunities on the EarthDay.Org website. Make sure that on April 22, you do something good for the planet, no matter how small, it can make an impact.
At the University of Maine, we have a week full of events and activities. Check out the schedule of events here on the Earth Week 2022 website.
“10 Earth Day Celebrations Around the World,” April 22, 2017. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/94126/10-earth-day-celebrations-around-world.
Earth Day. “Earth Day 2022 | Invest in Our PlanetTM.” Accessed February 25, 2022. https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2022/.
Dynamic Language. “Earth Day Celebrations Around the Globe,” March 18, 2019. https://www.dynamiclanguage.com/earth-day-celebrations-around-the-globe/.
Celebrations. “Earth Day Facts and History,” January 27, 2017. https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/celebrations/article/earth-day.