Discover more coastal celebrations and programs at Earth Day 2024. First held in 1970 to bring awareness to environmental issues, Earth Day takes place annually on April 22.
Join the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores to kick off its Party for the Planet.
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The event series starts on Earth Day Monday, will continue on Endangered Species Day May 17, and end June 8 on World Ocean Day.
During the on-site event Monday, visitors can listen to presentations, and participate in nature-based activities and sustainable-action challenges focused on this year’s theme, “Spring Into Action.”
Visitors can participate in the Green Team Challenge, a celebration of Earth’s biodiversity, and discover how to make a difference through everyday actions, organizers said.
Participants can choose one of three teams to join during the on-site events or online. Teams are Water Warriors, Food Fighters, and Garden Guardians.
After joining a team, participants pledge to do simple actions throughout the competition, take pictures while completing actions for their chosen team, and get a reward at the end of the competition.
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“Talking about conservation can often be overwhelming and leave us feeling helpless because issues often feel so big, they seem impossible to solve,” Aquarium Educator Sarah Wright said. “The Green Team competition during our Party for the Planet breaks down conservation into small, feasible choices we can make in our everyday lives, with each team focusing on a different conservation issue.”
Each team features an animal ambassador — sea turtle, black vulture, or striped skunk — that will be featured in a virtual animal encounter for those who join a team and participate in the challenge.
Each team focuses on a different sustainability issue: Water Warriors challenge participants to conserve water, prevent water pollution, and protect aquatic ecosystems.
Food Fighters team members will consider the impact of our diets and food waste on the environment.
Those who choose to be Garden Guardians will pledge to protect different ecosystems and find ways to coexist with their neighborhood wildlife.
“I hope participants will feel empowered to participate in conservation. By taking action alongside their teammates, friends, and families, individual participants can hopefully identify conservation solutions in their everyday lives,” Wright said.
For more than 20 years, Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited institutions across the nation have hosted Party for the Planet events, making it North America’s largest combined Earth Day, Endangered Species Day, and World Ocean Day celebration.
It’s the AZA’s sixth year of the “Spring into Action” campaign with support from the Disney Conservation Fund. The campaign aims to provide family-friendly, conservation-based events and volunteer opportunities that improve the health of our planet’s habitats and ecosystems.
For more information on the Aquarium’s Party for the Planet Green Team Challenge, visit the website.
