This past Earth Day, we launched something new called Climate Hour—an invitation to dedicate just one hour to doing something real for the planet. No rigid rules, no pressure to be perfect—just a call to action with a low barrier and a high potential for impact. The idea was simple: take one hour, and use it to learn, act, or advocate in a way that directly supports climate progress.
That might look like planting pollinator-friendly species, switching to renewable energy through your utility, joining a local cleanup, calling your representatives about climate legislation, reducing household emissions, or helping your kids understand what’s happening and why it matters. There’s more than one way to fight for the future. But for Climate Hour, we’re focusing on actions that move the needle—on awareness, on policy, on solutions.
Here’s how just a few of our incredible Upstanding Earthlings chose to spend their hour:
“Filling in our pollinator garden! Hoping for more butterflies this year! Bee balm, zinnia, pumpkin (starting inside), marigolds, etc.” — Lindsey
“I work at a Nature Preschool and we have been talking about Earth Day all week. Today we read The Trouble With Dragons, picked up trash in our woods, put up signs with quotes from our students to encourage people to clean up their trash and not litter, had Trash-free Tuesday snacks (and tomorrow is Waste-free Wednesday) and renewed our Honorable Harvest promise to our woods and our planet.” — Laura
“I replaced our OLD furnaces and air conditioning units with high efficiency furnaces and heat pumps, as well as buying TerraCycle Zero Waste boxes because, while Chicago has a "recycling program" less than 10% actually gets recycled. Everything else is landfill.” — Avis
“I watched a documentary about food waste and climate impact, then actually made a meal plan. I’m not saying I’m a hero… but no spinach died in vain this week.” — Jill
“Spent our time at an arboretum, outside hugging trees. We (baby is just less than 2) collected pine cones and read about how old the trees are (one is as old as Papa! One was planted in 1887 - wow! It’s powerful to sit amongst such old living things, just thinking about what they’ve seen in their lifetimes.” — Sara K.
“We read gardening books like "Growing Vegetable Soup" by Lois Elhert and then started planting our garden! When kids learn to grow food, they see how nature works and they start to see how simple actions can help the environment. Not everything needs to be bought at a store, you can make yummy vegetable soup all on your own" — Charlotte
“We spent our hour writing postcards to our representatives about why we care about climate change. My daughter talked about wanting clean air and more trees in our neighborhood.” — Wendy
We went to the library and checked out the Wonder Walkers book that was suggested in the Winter Water Factory Instagram story, read it together, and then took our own wonder walk!” — Erin H.
"We made seed balls to spread native wildflowers into the nooks and crannies of our garden—helping to create more food for the pollinators!" - Sarah G.
A huge thank you to all the Upstanding Earthlings who took part in Climate Hour. Every bit of it matters and together it adds up to something hopeful. We’re so inspired by the way this community continues to show up with creativity, care, and a willingness to try. You made this world a little more beautiful, a little more wonderful—and we’re so glad to be in it with you. Ready to join the next one? Submit your Climate Hour activity by July 19 and we’ll add 500 Acorns to your Upstanding Earthlings Club account as a thank-you.
Let’s keep the momentum going—one hour, one family, one small act at a time.