5 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day in 5 Minutes

For every T-shirt purchased on Threadless this week, $1 will be donated to The Nature Conservancy to plant a tree. Photo: Flickr/timmredpath

We know Earth Day falls on a Thursday this year, and some of us just can’t take the whole day off of work or miss class to celebrate.

But if you’ve got just five minutes, we’ve got five things you can do to make a difference for Earth Day and beyond.

1. Take a quiz.
Answer six questions on Facebook and find your recycling persona. Are you a Recycling Rockstar, Reject Recycler or Random Recycler? Sponsored by Plastics Make It Possible, the app also gives tips and advice that match the persona on how to improve your recycling habits. You can also tweet your results for a change to win a T-shirt made of recycling water bottles.
Take the quiz

2. Buy a tee, plant a tree.
Threadless has partnered with Plantabillion.org and The Nature Conservancy for a special program called “Buy A Tee, Plant a Tree.” For every T-shirt purchased on Threadless this week, $1 will be donated to The Nature Conservancy to plant a tree. Also, this week all Nature Themed Tees are on sale for $12, including the special re-print of the design “Coexistence” which is printed on American Apparel Organic Cotton.
Buy a tee and start planting

3. Text an eco gift.
Shrink your carbon footprint by purchasing your next gift using Giiv.com – the first-ever mobile phone text gifting service that claims to be 100 percent green. Giiv.com removes all of the environmental fuss of gifts because there is no paper, no shipping, no wrapping and no waste! Gifts are delivered straight to your cell phone via text message with a gift code to redeem in-store or online.
Start shopping

4. Watch a heartwarming video.
OK, it sounds cheesy, but we’ve seen some great videos lately touting Earth Day. From well-known musicians to college students, the recently announced finalists in a U.S. EPA competition, “Our Planet, Our Stuff,” are spreading the message that daily habits have a significant impact on the planet. The competition called for participants to create a 30-60 second film that displays individual actions you can take in your community to make a difference. All of the results are there for you to enjoy while sipping your coffee in your reusable mug.
Watch the videos

5. Tweet an Earth Day tip.
Earth911 launched a special section featuring 40 tips about reducing, reusing and recycling. Earth911 is also hosting a Twitter contest to count down to Earth Day itself. Simply tweet the channel’s Web address and be entered to win awesome eco-friendly prizes. Winners will be announced on April 23. It’s a great way to spread the word and expand your eco knowledge!
Tweet a tip