Planet Protectors: In Celebration of Earth Day
Earth Day is a chance to reflect on our impact on our world and learn what we can do to make a positive impact instead of a negative one, but we can do that more than just one day a year. The Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden and other Planet Protectors in our community are sharing ways to give the Earth some love all the time.
Learn more about a variety of daily topics including protecting water and soil resources, practicing recycling and celebrating the world around us below.
Learn about the next Earth Day celebration at the Garden here.
Welcome Planet Protectors!
Plants- Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
Welcome Planet Protectors
- It’s easy to take the Earth we love for granted, but just about everything we do impacts the world around us. Luckily, we can have a positive impact on the Earth’s health by making choices that reduce our impact on the Earth’s air, water and soil.
- Learn about the history of Earth Day and Take a Pledge to protect the planet.
- Especially for Kids
Plant Avengers
- When people plant trees and native plants, they are doing more than just beautifying a space. Trees and plants are beneficial to the environment in many ways including producing oxygen and filtering pollutants from the air. Plants hold soil in place, and some native plants can help increase soil’s capacity to preserve water. Native plants also provide shelter and food for wildlife and support pollinators. Birds, butterflies and other wildlife rely on plants for food and call plants home.
Learn about Plants and the Water Cycle
- The water cycle is the path all water follows as it moves around Earth in different states. Liquid water is found in oceans, rivers, lakes—and even underground. Solid water in the form of ice is found in glaciers and snow. Water vapor—a gas—is found in Earth’s atmosphere. Plants, especially trees, contribute to the water cycle via transpiration, where water evaporates from the surface of their leaves. Close to 10% of all water enters the water cycle due to plant transpiration. The water cycle can also be observed inside terrariums that house entire miniature ecosystems!
- Especially for Kids
- Create your own mini-ecosystem: DIY Terrarium
- What is the Water Cycle? | NASA Climate Kids
- Especially for Kids
Protect our Water & Soil Resources
Why we should care about saving water and soil?
Conservation is not a job reserved for scientists, farmers, or foresters. It is up to each and every one of us to conserve our natural resources.
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- Saving our water: Our available water supply is finite: only 3% of water on Earth is fresh water, and only 0.5% is available for drinking. That means we need to use our limited water supply wisely and care for it properly.
- Saving our soil: Soil conservation is important because soil provides food, filters air and water, and helps to transform bio waste into nutrients or plant life. Soil can be drained away or contaminated, destroying it for use.
- Planet Protector: Iowa Rivers Revival
- Iowa’s rivers provide many benefits and values for Iowa communities including water for everyday use, recreation, and natural habitat for wildlife. There are many threats impacting the condition and quality of our rivers, including flooding, erosion, and pollution (what you can and can’t see). Iowa Rivers Revival is working to ensure our rivers are safe, clean, and enjoyable for future generations.
- Resources
- Especially for Kids
What’s going on under your feet
- You probably know soil by its more common name, dirt. But soil is so much more than a dirty mess.
- Planet Protector: Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge
- Watch “What is Soil” to learn the “secret recipe” for soil, and try a ribbon test to see how your soil will drain and hold nutrients.
- Especially for Kids
Capture the rain: rain barrels
- Rain barrels capture water from a roof and hold it later use such as on lawns, gardens or indoor plants. Collecting roof runoff in rain barrels reduces that amount of water that flows from your property. It’s a great way to conserve water and it’s free water for use in your landscape.
- Planet Protector: Polk County Soil & Water Conservation District
- #RainCampaign
- Watch this video about how to make a rain barrel!
Let rivers and streams run
- Removing low-head dams opens fish passageways and offers rivers and streams the ability to behave as they need to, unobstructed. Iowa has 177 low-head dams in 57 of the state’s 99 counties.
- Planet Protector: Iowa Rivers Revival
- Especially for Kids
Test the soil in your backyard
- Soil is a mixture of tiny particles of rock, dead plants and animals, air, and water. Different soils have different properties depending on their composition.
- Planet Protector: Corteva Agriscience
- Dig in and find out what kind of soil is in your yard. Follow along with this activity from Corteva Agriscience to determine the composition of your soil.
- Especially for Kids
Soak up the rain with a rain garden
- A rain garden is a depressed area in the landscape that collects rain water from a roof, driveway or street and allows it to soak into the ground. Planted with grasses and flowering perennials, rain gardens can be a cost effective and beautiful way to reduce runoff from your property.
- Planet Protector: Polk County Soil & Water Conservation District
- #RainCampaign| Polk Soil and Water Conservation District
- Watch this video to learn more about the benefits of rain gardens and resources available to install one on your property
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Learn The New Three “Rs”
- Energy and resources are wasted whenever an item goes to a landfill. Raw materials are a limited resource, and we might not always be able to replace what we throw away.
- Resources
- Learn how reducing, reusing, and recycling helps save natural resources. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle | US EPA
- Especially for Kids
- EPA Planet Protectors Club The Planet Protectors: Activities for Kids | Learning and Teaching about the Environment | US EPA
- At the Garden
- Donate to Shed Sale throughout the year
- The Shed Sale promotes re-using by finding new homes for items no longer needed or wanted. Bring in gently used items to the Garden front desk for another gardener to enjoy. Proceeds will support the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. More information can be found here.
- Donate to Shed Sale throughout the year
Be a super recycler!
- Recycling helps reduce the pollution caused by waste.
- Planet Protector: Metro Waste Authority
- It’s time to reduce your trash! Check out Metro Waste Authority’s fun website with videos, puzzles and games to help you be a super recycler.
From trash to garden treasure
- Recycle “trash” into garden treasures. Watch this video about recycling items to make a fairy garden!
- At The Garden
- Donate to Shed Sale throughout the year
- The Shed Sale promotes re-using by finding new homes for items no longer needed or wanted. Bring in gently used items to the Garden front desk for another gardener to enjoy. Proceeds will support the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. More information can be found here.
- Donate to Shed Sale throughout the year
Make a plastic bag bracelet
- Sustainability is based on a simple idea: Everything we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. To pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can successfully coexist to support present and future generations. Reusing items is one way to practice sustainability.
- Planet Protector: Corteva Agriscience
- Make a plastic bag bracelet Plastic Bag Bracelets (corteva.com)
- Resources:
- Especially for Kids
- Science Ambassador Activities and Lesson Plans (corteva.com)
- Adventures in Agriculture Coloring Books:
Watch wind power
- Sustainable energy is a form of energy that meets today’s demand for energy, does not expire or deplete, and can be used repeatedly. Renewable energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower are sustainable.
- Planet Protector: MidAmerican Energy
- Make a pinwheel to visualize wind power.
- DIY PINWHEEL Easy Kids Science – Bing video
- How Does a Wind Turbine Work? | Department of Energy
- Resources:
- Especially for kids
Get Outside and Enjoy the Outdoors!
Create a nature journal
- Explore the world around you through a journal to look at nature from different perspectives and to create a lasting memory of your experience.
- Planet Protector: The Brenton Arboretum
- Check out the natural world of trees in your backyard, at a local park and at The Brenton Arboretum.
- Especially for kids
- How to make a nature journal so you can record wildlife like a scientist | Natural History Museum
Get your bike ready to roll
- Planet protector: The Des Moines Bicycle Collective
- Temperatures are warming up and things are getting a whole lot greener. It’s time to get back on your bike.
- Watch this fun bike tune-up video at the Garden from Des Moines Bicycle Collective!
See a prairie ecosystem & make an insect hotel
- Planet Protector: Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge
- Historically tall grass prairie covered 70-80% of Iowa’s landscape with such species as big bluestem, butterfly milkweed, prairie cord grass, and pale purple coneflower.
- Planet Protector: Blank Park Zoo, Plant. Grow. Fly.
- Learn about the flowers and grasses our native butterflies and bees need the most, and make a habitat for these important nature friends.
- Resources:
Learn why native plants matter
- Native plants are those that occur naturally in a region in which they evolved. Creating a native plant garden habitat helps nurture and protect birds, butterflies, and other pollinators.
- Planet Protector: Polk County Soil & Water Conservation
- Resources:
- Especially for kids
Your mission continues!
- Maybe you already learned and tried some new things. But if not, don’t think it’s too late. Essentially every day is Earth Day. Your actions matter, and each of us can have a positive impact on our planet. And you can start today. Get outside and appreciate nature!
- Sit Spots_Journal (dmbotanicalgarden.com)
- Make a Climate Ribbon
- Go plogging
- Plogging — a combination of Swedish words plocka (to pick up) and jogga (to jog) — is any physical activity where not only do you exercise for personal health, you also collect litter in the process. Pick up litter on your daily jog or walk around the neighborhood — the important thing is to have fun while doing it!
- Great Global Cleanup (earthday.org)
- Plant something
- The sun is shining. Temps have risen. It’s time to plant something! Visit the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden for ideas and inspiration!
- Container Gardening
Calendar of Events
For a complete listing of upcoming events, explore our Event Calendar.
