Earth Week 2016: 5 social campaigns to follow this Earth Week

Day one in the Earth Week 2016 series. Stay tuned for more!

The Earth needs a whole week, not just a day! So welcome to my Earth Week series.

If you’re new to the internet, welcome! You may have heard of the hashtag, or the greatest invention ever. With it, you can follow the conversation about pretty much everything. But I’m here to tell you about social campaigns worth following this Earth Day.

#ClimateSign

The #ClimateSign movement has been ongoing since the COP21 Paris Climate Agreement, and encourages people all over the world to throw up the “climate sign,” the letter “c,” and say why you care about climate!

Here with @climatesign and @abbeydufoe at @NatlAquarium for #WeatherClimateDay. Why do you care about climate? https://t.co/bJwmhMqOuo

— Climate Central (@ClimateCentral) April 9, 2016

While I worked Weather + Climate Day at the National Aquarium a couple weeks ago, I ran into some Climate Sign people working the same event! There’s me, above, saying I care about climate because I care about people. Follow them on Twitter to join the movement.

#24Seven

NASA’s Earth Day campaign invites people across the Blue Marble to share what they’re doing to protect it. This event will also give the public a look behind the scenes at the space agency:

“The Earth Day #24Seven campaign will give the world a glimpse at the various efforts NASA undertakes to protect and understand our home planet. NASA will post time-stamped snapshot “moments” throughout the day on numerous Earth-related social media accounts to collectively paint a picture of NASA Earth science.”

Find more info on the #24Seven Project here.

#AppsForEarth

Apple is pairing up with the World Wildlife Fund this Earth Week to raise money for climate change mitigation, forest conservation and fresh water protection (among other causes!). 100% of the purchases of certain apps (including some from Disney, Marvel and Angry Birds) as well as in-app purchases will go to these causes. Apps for Earth! Stay tuned, blog post coming tomorrow on this very subject!

#48DaysofBlue

The National Aquarium is launching a national campaign around water — all kinds of it! The campaign, dubbed #48DaysofBlue, launches on Earth Day and continues on until World Oceans Day 48 days later. The push covers everything from the issues oceans face in the long term (like pollution and ocean acidification) to water conservation in your home. Follow along on Twitter!

#Trees4Earth

The Earth Day Network is urging people to plant trees to combat climate change with their #Trees4Earth hashtag.

Deforestation is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for up to 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation plays such an oversized role in climate change, in fact, that part of the 2015 Paris Agreement singled out both the end of deforestation and the importance of reforestation to hitting national climate goals.

For more on how trees can help, see Climate Central’s coverage of trees from the Paris climate pact.

#EarthDay (and #EarthWeek)

Last but certainly not least, an oldie but a goodie, the #EarthDay hashtag will have everything and MORE about the greatest holiday on the planet (in my opinion, of course). Follow #EarthDay and #EarthWeek (because Earth deserves more than one day) on Twitter for Earth news for the whole week.

View the whole Earth Week Series here.