Environment Articles

by Christine McCullum-Gomez, PhD, RDN, IWC Bogotà with additional input from Maria Psarianou, AWO Greece, and Rosie Deane, AW Berkshire Surrey IWC

The theme of this year’s Earth Day (2026) is “Our Power, Our Planet.”¹ Earth Day organizers across the globe are mobilizing to take action to protect our planet. As an individual in your community, you have power to make a difference on Earth Day (April 22) – and every day of the year. 

Here are some proven solutions you can take to promote environmental protection in your community:²

Protect what works — scale proven solutions like renewable energy, efficiency, and ecosystem restoration already delivering results
Act locally — drive change in our own communities, where policy and impact are most immediate
Stay the course — ensure that environmental progress continues regardless of political shifts
Safeguard health — reduce pollution and climate risks that directly affect families and communities
Strengthen livelihoods — support workers and industries that depend on a healthy environment
Uphold shared values — advance stewardship as a moral, cultural, and intergenerational responsibility
Connect global to local — recognize that environmental outcomes are interconnected across borders
Invest in the future — protect land, air, and water as long-term economic and social assets
Collaborate across sectors — unite communities, educators, businesses, and policymakers for practical solutions
Exercise collective power — take responsibility as individuals and communities to drive meaningful change

At the community level, you can participate in “Community cleanups, teach-ins, peaceful demonstrations, tree planting, voter registration, town halls, community organizing — every action strengthens the movement.”¹

In your Earth Day 2026 social media communications, be sure to use the following hashtags:
#OurPowerOurPlanet #EarthDay2026

You can learn more about Earth Day 2026 and sign up as an official partner at Earth Day Partners. ^1,2

Note from the Environment Co-Chairs:

We celebrate Earth Day “Our Power, Our Planet” on April 22, but remember – every day of the year can, and should, be Earth Day.

Every year on this day people are encouraged to change their life patterns.

Real environmental progress has always come from collective, imperfect action, not individual perfection.³

We make resolutions to eat better, move more, spend less, and waste less. We promise ourselves to quit plastic, go zero-waste, buy only ethical brands, and shrink our effect on climate change overnight.

But then reality hits.

We forget reusable bags for the grocery store. We can’t afford the most “eco-friendly” products, so we buy what we can. We live somewhere without public transportation. The guilt creeps in, and suddenly sustainability feels less like hope and more like failure. It can be so discouraging that sometimes we give up altogether. Don't give up. 

As Maria noted in our recent Environment Team meeting, the experience of the Artemis II crew brings home how important it is to protect the only livable planet we know.

The Voyage of Artmenis II and its human side

The Overview Effect is a profound cognitive shift experienced by many astronauts when viewing Earth from space, characterized by an intense sense of awe, profound interconnectedness, and a new perspective on the planet’s fragility, often accompanied with a variety of emotional responses, crying being one of them. This experience often highlights the artificiality of borders and prompts a renewed, unified view of humanity and the planet.

We loved this quote from ARTEMIS II astronaut Christina Hammock Koch’s interview during a touching post-flight press conference:⁴

Several years ago I was giving a speech and I was doing my usual talk about crew and crew mates and teamwork and someone asked the question “What makes a crew, what is different about a crew than a team” and I was like, I got this, opened my mouth confidently to tell them everything I knew about being a crew mate and everything that came out of my mouth was completely without value. ………... When we saw tiny Earth, people asked our crew what impressions we had and honestly what struck me wasn’t necessarily just Earth, it was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe (emotional pause) so I may have not learned, I know I haven’t learned everything that this journey has yet to teach me, but there’s one new thing I know, and that is PLANET EARTH, YOU ARE A CREW.

Happy Earth Day!

References: 

1. Earth Day 2026: Our Power, Our Planet. Available at: Earth Day 2026 | Theme, Activities, Events & Resources Accessed April 13, 2026.
2. Earth Day Toolkit and Promotional Materials. Accessed April 13, 2026.
3. Earth Day 2026 | Theme, Activities, Events & Resources
4. Transcript from NASA press conference.