[Lehman College\Earth Day 2020]
The Lehman College and greater New York City community are invited to participate in the virtual Earth Day events all week.
Photo: YouTube
Lehman College will hold virtual Earth Day events throughout the week.
The coronavirus pandemic has forced all of us to adapt our plans for, well, everything. As much as possible, planned-for events are adjusted, rather than canceled. Therefore, Earth Day 2020 is merely shifted into virtual mode.
The primary advantage of a virtual-mode event is that people can participate anytime and anywhere; date, time and location become less important. Earth Day lends itself well to this approach, since the purpose of Earth Day is something we should all incorporate into our daily relationship with our environment – not just every April 22.
The Lehman College and greater New York City community are invited to participate in the following virtual events:
- 24 hours of Action. 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the first global Earth Day. The theme of Earth Day 2020 from the Earth Day Network is Climate Action. Consider participating in the Earth Day Network’s 24 Hours of Action on April 22 for ways to action for the environment. Every hour, on the hour, the Earth Day Network gives a new, powerful way for people to demand action and drive change.
- Sustainability Film Festival. The Lehman College Sustainability Council has compiled a semi-exhaustive list (pdf) of films about sustainability and the environment that are available for view for free on various internet video-sharing platforms, video learning libraries and other sites. A mix of past- and recent short videos, full-length documentaries and made-for-TV programs illustrates different aspects of environmental sustainability, human impact on the environment as well as solutions and inspiration to get involved. Check out the list here.
- I-Naturalist Nature App. Although the entire country is sheltering in place, people are encouraged to go outdoors for daily exercise (alone, and always maintain social distancing) by walking, biking and hiking in local parks. In addition to completely landscaped areas and built facilities, NYC parks contain significant portions of never-developed land that allow anyone to experience nature right nearby. NYC parks contain natural wetlands, forests, shorelines and meadows to allow you discover and experience the natural world of NYC. Why not use this time to get acquainted/reacquainted with your local park? And while you’re there, use the I-Naturalist nature app to better connect with nature. I-Naturalist is a social network of people sharing biodiversity information that serves as a crowdsourced species-identification system and an organism-occurrence recording tool. I-Naturalist is one of the world’s most popular nature apps that will identify living things that you encounter. Check out some of the plant- and animal species right here in NYC on I-Naturalist.
- Take Action with Citizen Science Webinar at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). Saturday, April 25, 2020, 2-4 pm online. NYBG is marking the 50th anniversary of the modern environmental movement with multiple days of online programs. Hear from NYBG experts during an introductory webinar featuring themed sessions on the different ways you can participate in citizen science efforts at home. From observing and documenting nature to transcribing historical documents, you can take part in fostering a greater understanding of the natural world. Fellow citizen scientists of all experience levels join online projects focused on gathering and safeguarding data and knowledge about plant biodiversity.
