By Carol Fisher-Linn
Earth Week is April 18-26 2026: How will you honor this special time?
April! Spring! Flowers! Open windows! Easter! Renewed Life, Resurrection for Mother Earth!
As I survey the landscape surrounding us in the hills of Western New York, I witness resurrection with new life emerging at almost every turn. Birds are doing what birds do in spring, pussy willows are beginning to bud, daffodil greens are standing tall waiting to flower, our garlic plants are up six inches, even the massive ancient lilac looks ready to spring to life again (house built in 1928 but gigantic trees up and down the road. Is it older?). Nature is truly resilient – until it’s not. I also see trees in the hills that will ever remain skeletons, until they finally fall. As I look at our greening lawn, I clearly remember last summer when so many of our lawns turned bitter brown from the heat and lack of moisture. Not only are the grass and all things green affected by these climactic changes, droughts, or the opposite – extreme flooding, there is an increase in the risk of illness with compromised drinking water, air purity and even food safety. Emergency rooms get a surge of people suffering from hypothermia or heat stroke depending on the season; allergies are amping up earlier along with more asthma attacks. There is also a greater risk of deadly Lyme Disease which took the life of a beloved Ellicottville Central School teacher years ago.
New York State (NYS) has undertaken several initiatives that require consideration of future climate conditions. It has created a document (NYSCIA – NYS Climate Impact Assessment) and programs which address temperature changes, extreme temps, changes in average or seasonal precipitation, extreme temperatures, heavy precipitation, sea level rise, flooding, changes in lake and stream temperature and lake levels, etc. Apparently in their eyes, climate change is real and NYS is working to mitigate its effects for her 20,127,000 residents.
But what can you do to add your share of care in the preservation of our environment – our world? A good start is to intentionally do something to observe both Earth Day on April 22 and Earth Week with major actions starting Saturday, April 18th.
Find an event in your community and participate. Ellicottville always has a spring cleanup in early May with the help of Ellicottville Rotary and ERA Real Estate and whoever wishes to jump in and help, and the Alley Katz begin their gargantuan preparations to beautify the village of Ellicottville. Mayville will be holding a tree donation event on April 22. There’s a cleanup of the newly established Blue Hill State Forest in Yorkshire, NY. on Saturday, April 18. Every neighborhood will be getting ready to advertise their spring cleanup days. Check your community Facebook pages or websites for postings.
Earthday.org provides individuals or groups with various tools with which to mark the day/week. Toolkits teach how to organize a peaceful demonstration, rally, clean-up, a teach-in. You’ll find fact sheets, puzzles, quizzes, and news and stories for individuals, groups, or organizations to find constructive ways to celebrate and educate. Educate – that’s really the operative word.
I can’t possibly write an article about helping the earth without some quotes from beloved activist Jane Goodall who died this past year. Her 92nd birthday is April 3rd on the cusp of the season of resurrection. Jane didn’t just love chimpanzees. This, from oneearth.org: Goodall’s activism extended far beyond. “She campaigned for animal welfare, ethical science, and plant-based living, urging humanity to adopt a lifestyle rooted in compassion and sustainability. She worked with organizations and governments to end the use of chimpanzees in medical research and spoke passionately about the links between deforestation, food systems, and climate change. Her vision of interconnectedness, between animals, people, and the planet, became a moral compass for the global environmental movement.”
Look for any U-Tube about Jane, especially an interview which was released after her death, and take heed to her words: “And as we destroy one ecosystem after another, as we create worse climate change, worse loss of diversity, we have to do everything in our power to make the world a better place for the children alive today and for those that will follow. You have it in your power to make a difference. Don’t give up. There is a future for us. Don’t lose hope. Do your best while you’re still on this beautiful planet Earth that I look down upon from where I am now. God bless you all.”
What will you do this coming earth month to preserve the future????