Need Earth Day optimism? Here are some environmental do-gooders in your backyard

Earth Day 2025’s theme is “Our power, our planet,” an idea centered on taking action through education, advocacy and community support.

And climate experts say action is urgently needed. The United Nations Environment Programme said in 2024 that countries aren’t doing enough to lower emissions and are on course to completely miss the targets set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. (President Trump on the first day of his second term pledged to pull the U.S. from the agreement.)

International efforts to curb the growing problem of plastic pollution failed to reach an agreement after two years of discussion. And more than 1 in 3 tree species are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Against this backdrop comes Earth Day, which will be marked this Tuesday, April 22. It was first celebrated in 1970 and its organizers are behind EARTHDAY.ORG, which leads environmental projects across the globe.

While those in the highest seats of power are struggling to enact real change, there are online networks carving out their own sustainable solutions. They have grown organically for years, championing nature and wildlife and strengthening community bonds along the way.

At a time when communities can feel fractured and optimism hard to come by, here’s a look at online groups taking a pragmatic approach to changing the world for the better.

Sticking together

Stick Nation is a community of nature lovers showing off sticks they found and inventing ways to rank them.

It was formed by Boone Hogg and Logan Jugler, two friends who sort through thousands of submitted videos from all over the world and post them to their social media accounts. To celebrate Earth Month, they’re trying to mobilize their community of millions to raise money for nature-helping nonprofits.

“We’re just trying to see how big of an impact Stick Nation can make and see how much good we can put out into the world throughout the month of April,” Hogg said. Profits from a GoFundMe and merch sales will go directly to One Tree Planted, World Wildlife Fund, EARTHDAY.ORG and the National Forest Foundation.

The nonprofits were picked because of their efforts to improve forests and the natural world, he said.

“Sticks come from trees, you can’t have sticks without trees. So we need more trees,” said Hogg.

The giving economy

Alarmed by all the plastic waste washing up on the shores of Washington state’s Bainbridge Island, Liesl Clark and her friend Rebecca Rockefeller wanted to show their kids they could make a difference. They discovered the plastics came from all types of products: pens, water bottles, car bumpers, even the signs in convenience stores that list prices. The question was, what could be done to ease plastic pollution?

“Of the three R’s, there’s ‘reduce, reuse, recycle.’ OK, how about ‘refuse?’ So refusing to actually buy those products new and seeing if we had enough in our materials economy to create a circular economy,” said Clark.

They created a small, private Facebook community of neighbors who could share the items they no longer needed. From that group in 2013 sprouted a global movement of the Buy Nothing Project, with millions of members in roughly 128,000 groups worldwide and a bespoke app.

People give away clothes, coffee pots, furniture and children’s toys. The app allows them to borrow things even when they’re visiting other cities on vacation, like swim floaties for their kids. Clark says the positive feedback loop helps build community.

“What happens is, just that kind of dopamine, that feel good experience spurs others to participate. If you had a good experience from giving something away or acquiring something, then you’ll you’ll post again and you’ll post again,” Clark said.

The seed of an idea

DePhane Marcelle Weaver loves to sow knowledge.

Her organization, Garden Exchange Stands Org, relies on a network of volunteers and neighborhood plant stands where people can pick up and drop off plants, seeds, cuttings, agave pups and other garden-related items.

The group holds educational workshops on planting, supporting local wildlife and gardening sustainably.

She says in times of high grocery store prices, this knowledge allows people to grow healthy food in their own backyards. Plus, it builds community.

“It’s nice to just be able to bike down to your neighborhood stand, get your books, get your plants and seeds and then share what you have,” said Weaver.

People donate pineapple plants, eggs, rosemary, boysenberry plants and tomato plants. They tend to their stands meticulously and give them punny names like “Say Aloe to my Leafy Friend,” “Rooting for You” and “Bee Joyful.”

Weaver says growing your own food is the ultimate way to eat locally and sustainably.

“If people can overlook all the tensions of today with what’s happening and just focus on what’s really important is we have to eat right? We all have to eat. So help each other,” Weaver said.