In 2026, the global theme for Earth Day is “Our Power, Our Planet,” encouraging people around the world to show up and use their voices and actions to advocate for the planet.
On Boise State’s campus, student organizations and the Office of Sustainability are taking that objective very seriously, offering several opportunities for the campus community to get involved and make a difference for the environment.
“A big part of what we do is student involvement, and we think that this month of Earth Day is a great opportunity to provide student involvement events and to get some recognition about what it means to participate in Earth Day,” Environmental Compliance and Sustainability Manager Jennifer Ellis said.
Earth Day will take place on April 22, and the Department of Sustainability is inviting all students to participate in Earth Day events leading up to the holiday.
“Our most popular [activity] tends to be plogging,” Ellis said, referring to the activity of picking up litter while jogging (or walking). “It’s easy, it’s tangible, it’s fun, it’s rewarding. You can see a result at the end of the hour.”
The department will host plogging gatherings every day during Earth Week, from April 21 to 24. The cleanups will happen for one hour each day, from noon to 1 p.m. starting at the Friendship Bridge.
Ellis said events like plogging often make students feel rewarded, giving them the satisfaction of doing something concrete to make a difference.
Another Earth Day event Ellis highlighted was the Sustainability Tour taking place on April 22. The hour-long guided campus walkthrough will showcase some of the notable sustainability features of campus.
The tour will start at the Student Union Building and finish at the COBE building, showing attendees prominent campus features such as solar energy stations, the Bee Team apiary, buildings heated by geothermal energy and more.
Ellis added that those who cannot attend the sustainability tours in-person can view the department’s Virtual Sustainability Tour to learn more about campus sustainability features and initiatives.
There will be several other events hosted by the Department of Sustainability before Earth Week, throughout Earth Week and beyond. Ellis said some of these include the Annual Tree Planting Ceremony to preserve Boise State’s status as a certified Tree Campus on April 16, a Greenbelt Bike Ride hosted in partnership with the Cycle Learning Center on April 21 and a Garden Clean-Up in the campus community garden on April 24.
Beyond the official university-sponsored events, student organizations are coming together to make their own Earth Day impact.
Community Garden Club President Abigayle Ellsworth said their group is planning a special Earth Day hike at Camel’s Back Park. The club, and anyone else interested in joining, will meet on April 22 and 1 p.m. at the park, and will pick up trash along the way.
The club spends most meetings in the campus Community Garden where members grow plants and flowers, teaching students how to garden and donating their produce to the Campus Food Pantry. To celebrate Earth Day they decided to get out and explore more of what Boise nature has to offer.
“It is a community garden, so it’s good for us to go out into the community, and especially with students on campus, sometimes people get a little stuck in that area,” Ellsworth said. “It’s good to show people other places and areas they can explore on their own, and it has a fantastic view of Boise. It’s just a great opportunity to get up into the hills and appreciate our valley and the environment.”
Ellsworth said she sees Earth Day as a reminder to appreciate the beauty of the world around her.
“Earth Day is great,” she said. “Especially right now, it’s super needed — remembering to appreciate those things, especially when we don’t exactly live in a society that necessarily values nature all that much a lot of the time.”
Those interested in getting involved with the Community Garden Club can learn more on their CampusGroups page or on their Instagram, @bsucommunitygardenclub.
Environmental Club Vice President Boden Bisgard said their group is planning an Earth Day protest at the Capitol in conjunction with the Youth Salmon Protectors. They will be meeting at the Capitol building at 3:30 p.m. on April 22 with a variety of local organizations and community groups.
“The idea of the protest is to elevate youth voices around climate issues,” Bisgard said. “We want to give people a space to not only get out and communicate with other environmental professionals or environmental students, but give them a space to elevate their voice on a statewide, and hopefully national, level.”
Bisgard said organizing the protest has been “a lot of work,” requiring a lot of outreach to try and get students and organizations at the high school, college and community levels involved. According to him, many are afraid to speak up and act in today’s political climate.
“There’s plenty of reasons not to act,” he said. “There are so many fears and anxieties that you could have about taking action and making your voice heard, but you only get so many chances in a life to really make an impact. This is one of those chances.”
The Environmental Club works throughout the entire school year, doing hands-on environmental work and community engagement. Students interested in getting involved for Earth Day and beyond can learn more on the club’s CampusGroups page or on their Instagram, @environmentalclubbsu.
Whether it’s by attending an event or simply taking a moment to appreciate the natural beauty of Boise, Earth Day is a reminder that the responsibility to keep our campus, and planet, beautiful falls on all of us.
