Governor Phil Murphy • Lt. Governor Tahesha Way

Action for Earth 2025

In recognition of Earth Day 2025, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) is inviting New Jersey school districts to participate in a month-long Action for Earth in April 2025. Join us to plan and share activities that celebrate our shared efforts to be stewards of our environment as we explore climate-related challenges and solutions. 

Share your plans and activities with us on social media using the hashtags #ClimateEd #ClimateChangeEducation #ActionforEarthNJ and with the Climate Education Unit staff at climateeducation@doe.nj.gov. 

Dates and Themes 

  • March 31 – April 4: Reducing Our Impact 
  • April 7 – 11: Healthy Communities 
  • April 14 – 18: Educating for a Healthy Planet 
  • April 21 - 25: Protect and Preserve 
  • April 28 – May 2: Building Green Spaces 

Join us in our first Action for Earth theme, Reducing Our Impact, and investigate strategies for reducing our environmental impact in our communities, schools, and homes.  

This week, we encourage you to: 

  • Explore the sources of energy used to power our schools and homes. 
  • Learn more about renewable energy resources. 
  • Conduct energy audits. 
  • Consider best practices for conserving energy. 
  • Conduct a waste audit. 
  • Research strategies for mitigating the impact of stormwater runoff. 

Resources 

In our second Action for Earth theme, Healthy Communities, we encourage you to learn about how your community can become more resilient to the impacts of climate change while promoting health and wellness for all. 

This week, we encourage you to: 

  • Learn about how extreme heat can impact your school and community. 
  • Make a pledge to stop idling at your school. 
  • Investigate where your food comes from and how it makes its way to you. 
  • Examine the environmental impacts of how we grow, produce, and transport food. 
  • Consider how shifts in our food choices might result in better outcomes for our bodies and the environment. 
  • Explore options to source food locally. 
  • Start a school garden. 

Resources 

In Week 3, we encourage you to explore strategies for developing meaningful community partnerships to support healthier communities and collaboratively develop solutions to local climate change-related issues. 

This week, we encourage you to:  

  • Conduct waste audits to determine how your community, school, and home handles waste. 
  • Start composting. 
  • Determine and implement other strategies for reducing waste. 

Resources 

What can you do to ensure the health of local habitats and ecosystems? Explore how you can take action to protect and preserve local ecosystems and restore habitats. This week we encourage you to:

  • Investigate strategies for rehabilitating ecosystems and habitats in your backyard, local parks, or school grounds. 
  • Learn to identify and remove invasive species from local habitats. 
  • Explore the rich diversity of New Jersey native species. 
  • Develop a pollinator garden to support native pollinators. 

Resources 

What kind of outdoor spaces do students have access to on school grounds and in the community? In the final week of Action for Earth, learn about the benefits of being outdoors and how to develop green spaces that students, staff, and community members can utilize. This week we encourage you to: 

  • Explore ways to integrate green spaces into your school grounds. 
  • Get outside and explore the types of plants and animals that are endemic to your area. 
  • Engage in learning outdoors. 
  • Collaborate with community-based organizations like the local Green Team to plan the development of green spaces in your community. 
  • Investigate strategies for support self-care and healing in nature. 

Resources 

Page Last Updated: 03/11/2025