Saturday is Earth Day, an annual event that honors the achievements of the environmental movement and raises awareness of the need to protect Earth’s natural resources for future generations.

Earth Day started in 1970 when 20 million Americans — 10% of the nation’s population at the time — came together to demonstrate the importance of protecting our planet, according to earthday.org.

Earth Day helped put the environment on the national agenda, leading to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and major policies, such the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

This year’s theme is “invest in our planet.”

There are many ways we can invest in our planet. They include using recycled or reusable products, conserving water, using natural cleaning products instead of chemical ones, not using chemicals and pesticides in your garden or yard, and cleaning up discarded plastic in your neighborhood.

One of the easiest ways is by striving to live zero-waste.

It’s no secret that plastic is a huge contributor to harming our planet.

More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every day — a total of about 22 billion last year, according to the Container Recycling Institute. And around eight million pieces of plastic make their way into our oceans daily.

Celebrate the Earth by striving to eliminate single-use plastics from your daily life, request paper bags or bring your own when shopping. Buy products packaged in recycled or reusable materials.

Another way is to go paperless. With everything being accessible online these days, opt for paying and receiving bills online and getting receipts via text or email.

If you want to be part of a team effort on Earth Day, help out at an organized cleanup at Moraine State Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. There will be projects for all skill levels. Meet at the park office on the South Shore. Registration is required at events.dcnr.pa.gov.

Earth Day raises awareness of the environmental harm that humans have caused and continue to cause. We celebrate it one day a year, but we should be doing little things every day to be responsible stewards of our planet and help preserve it for future generations.

— JGG