Earth Day events throughout the state promote living sustainably, volunteering to protect your environment, and appreciating the wonders of nature.
Each year on April 22, millions of people around the world celebrate Earth Day—yet our planet’s environmental challenges have only grown more urgent over time.
On the first Earth Day in 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets to protest dirty air, polluted rivers, and unchecked industrial waste. Since then, the annual event has raised awareness about conservation and sustainability, encouraging more people to recycle, plant trees, and demand government action to protect the Earth.
Still, even more than 50 years later, these efforts have not kept pace with the scale of the environmental crisis as the planet continues to warm. In fact, the continental United States has warmed roughly 2.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970—and Pennsylvania has warmed even faster, by 3.2 degrees.
Here’s how much temperatures have risen across cities and regions of the commonwealth since 1970, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data analyzed by Climate Central.
- Allentown: 2.4 degrees
- Central Pennsylvania: 2.4 degrees
- Erie: 5 degrees
- Harrisburg area: 3 degrees
- Philadelphia: 3.8 degrees
- Pittsburgh: 3.3 degrees
- State College: 3.4 degrees
- Wilkes-Barre: 3.9 degrees
While things may look dire—and everyday Pennsylvanians aren’t the key drivers of the climate crisis—there are still meaningful actions you can take. Whether you’re drawing attention to local issues through advocacy, beautifying your community by picking up litter, or improving the air we breathe by planting trees, every effort counts.
We’ve put together a list of Earth Day events across Pennsylvania that you can join, depending on your interests—along with ways to advocate for the environment year-round.
Volunteer for the planet
This Earth Day, you can join hands-on initiatives to directly improve your piece of the Earth. You might get out into nature with Pennsylvania State Parks or take part in volunteer opportunities within your city or town. Here is a sampling of volunteer-focused Earth Day events across the state happening on and around the holiday—but there will be dozens more, so be sure to check what’s going on in your local community.
STEP UP YOUR SUSTAINABILITY: In addition to volunteer opportunities organized for the holiday, many organizations offer ways to get involved year-round! Your Earth Day project could be the catalyst toward regular tree planting, litter upkeep, community gardening, or talking to your neighbors about conservation. Some ideas for year-round volunteering include work with local watershed conservation nonprofits, state park “friends” groups, or trail beautification organizations.
Volunteer at Pennsylvania State Parks
Earth Day Volunteer Day at Prince Gallitzin State Park – Patton (Cambria County)
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Help beautify Prince Gallitzin State Park on its Earth Day Volunteer Day by planting, raking, and doing other needed tasks outdoors. Lunch will be provided.
Earth Day Weekend Tree Planting at Poe Valley State Park – Coburn (Centre County)
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Poe Valley State Park staff are leading a volunteer event planting trees in the state park. Tools and instructions will be provided, and kids are welcome. Registration is recommended.
Earth Day Celebration and Volunteer Expo at Nockamixon State Park – Quakertown (Bucks County)
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Nockamixon State Park will host 11 of its volunteer organizations—e.g., a butterfly garden group, the Appalachian Mountain Club, trail crews, and mountain bike clubs—as they promote their efforts and activities, including some that prospective members can dive into on the spot. The Earth Day celebration and volunteer expo takes place at the park’s Marina Visitor Center.
Beautification Earth Day Celebration – Scranton (Lackawanna County)
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2026; volunteer event from 9 to 11 a.m. and celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Scranton’s Beautification Earth Day Celebration begins with a volunteer project in McDade Park, where participants will clean up and improve the park pond and surrounding areas. Registration is required.
After the cleanup event, the party starts! The celebration will offer free arts and crafts activities, live entertainment, and nature-focused educational opportunities.
Earth Day at Awbury Arboretum – Philadelphia
Date: Sunday, April 19, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Awbury Arboretum in Philadelphia is hosting a full day of Earth Day activities, with the morning dedicated to community tree planting and an afternoon of nature-inspired paper activities and local eats. Registration is required.
Educational Earth Day events
These Earth Day events will help teach participants about conservation and the everyday actions we can take to live a little more sustainably.
Invasive Plant Walk, Talk, and Pull at Kinzua Bridge State Park – Kane (McKean County)
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026, at 11 a.m.
Kinzua Bridge State Park educators will present a talk on invasive plants and how they disrupt local ecosystems. Then volunteers will have a chance to pull invasives from the park during a short nature walk.
STEP UP YOUR SUSTAINABILITY: Learn to identify garlic mustard, a highly invasive plant that destroys biodiversity across the state, and pull it from natural spaces. It’s actually a tasty edible—just don’t put it in your compost, where the seeds would further spread.
Earth Day – Planting Your Spring Garden at Bartram’s Garden – Philadelphia
Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2026, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden will host an introductory workshop on creating and planting a spring garden. The class will also cover garden maintenance, including how to deal naturally with pests.
Backyard Composting Workshops with the Pennsylvania Resources Council – Multiple sites
Learn how to practice conservation in your kitchen by turning your food scraps into garden soil. The Pennsylvania Resources Council hosts workshops teaching the benefits of home composting and how to get started. The classes include backyard composting workshops as well as bokashi composting workshops, the latter of which is a fermentation-based composting method that is ideal for small spaces.
Upcoming workshops include:
- Monday, April 20, 2026: Bokashi Composting Workshop – Upper Darby (Delaware County)
- Thursday, April 23, 2026: Backyard Composting Workshop – Media (Delaware County)
- Thursday, April 30, 2026: Bokashi Composting Workshop – Glenolden (Delaware County)
STEP UP YOUR SUSTAINABILITY: Start composting! You can buy a simple countertop compost bin to house your kitchen scraps and food waste. Your scraps will turn into rich soil, which you can either use or offer to a local organization that accepts compost.
Watershed Awareness Workshops with the Pennsylvania Resources Council – Multiple sites
Healthy watersheds not only ensure we have clean drinking water but also allow ecosystems to thrive and help make communities more resilient to floods and other climate disasters.
The Pennsylvania Resources Council regularly hosts workshops about the need to protect watersheds and how you can help by installing a rain barrel or growing native plants in your yard.
Rain barrels collect rainwater for gardening and lawn watering, and they also help reduce pollution and stormwater runoff. The deep roots of native plants filter out pollutants and also help prevent runoff.
Upcoming workshops include:
- Sunday, April 19, 2026: Native Plant and Stormwater Management Workshop – Media (Delaware County)
- Wednesdays, April 22 through May 13, 2026: Virtual Rain Garden Training Series – Virtual (for residents of Darby, Cobbs, and Schuylkill River watersheds in southeastern Pennsylvania)
- Tuesday, April 28, 2026: Watersheds & Rain Barrels Workshop – McKeesport (Allegheny County)
- Saturday, May 2, 2026: Watersheds & DIY Rain Barrels Workshop – Vandergrift (Westmoreland County)
- Tuesday, May 5, 2026: Watersheds & Rain Barrels Workshop – Mt. Lebanon (Allegheny County)
STEP UP YOUR SUSTAINABILITY: Learn about plants native to your area and explore planting them in your garden (or in small container gardens if you have limited outdoor space). Many native plants help pollinators, support healthy watersheds, and nourish local wildlife. And being adapted to the local environment, they also require much less upkeep than non-native plants.
Celebrate the Earth
Communities both large and small are hosting festivals celebrating environmentalism and Earth Day, where you can expect family-friendly activities promoting sustainability alongside live entertainment and local eats. Here’s a selection of these community celebrations.
Frick Environmental Center 10 Celebration – Pittsburgh
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Pittsburgh Park Conservancy will host a community celebration marking ten years of the Frick Environmental Center in Frick Park. There will be live music, games, food trucks, an art exhibition, guided hikes (registration required), and plenty of nature-inspired fun.
Sustainable State College Earth and Arbor Day Festival – State College (Centre County)
Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2026, from 5 to 8 p.m.
State College’s Earth and Arbor Day Festival celebrates the planet with an evening community festival offering sustainable arts and crafts activities, live music, food vendors, and information about local environmental groups.
Earth Day Celebration at Pocono Organics – Long Pond (Monroe County)
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Pocono Organics, one of the largest regenerative organic farms in the country, will host an Earth Day Celebration featuring educational exhibits and activities, sustainable vendors, and tasty organic food from its own cafe. Visitors can explore the farm and learn about regenerative agriculture and how it benefits the environment.
STEP UP YOUR SUSTAINABILITY: Support local agriculture by choosing local foods when you can, as they are more likely to be grown without harmful pesticides and require less transportation, meaning fewer fossil fuel emissions. You might try frequenting your neighborhood farmers market to access these foods—and meet their growers!
This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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