Leaves are starting to fall (along with the temperature), so autumn is definitely here! Many of us are excited for “spooky season”, but there is one thing we don’t want to be scared of: doing what we can to combat climate change, starting at home!

Earth Rangers has developed seriously COOL Missions (like Operation Conservation, Flip the Switch, and Re-set the ‘Stat, to name a few!) that tackle increased energy consumption due to seasonal changes, and we’ve borrowed a tip from each of these awesome Missions to get your fall started off right. Can you master these three simple steps to combat climate change by saving energy at home?

Don’t forget to tag us in a picture of your family completing these tasks together! We love to see Earth Rangers hard at work!

Accept one or all three of these Missions in the Earth Rangers App for more energy-saving, animal-loving fun!

Today’s Eco Activity: Pressed Plant Bookmarks

Are your family members collectors of habitat treasures, especially as the summer winds down? Maybe flowers in their hair? Leaves in pockets? Tiny stones in your shoes? We’ve got a back-to-school craft that will allow you to keep these fun little bits from your summer 2020 adventures and welcome the fall season!

If you don’t already have a collection of dried flowers, leaves, or other fun stuff, take a look around your yard or a nearby open field for little works of nature’s art. As fall colours start to change, you may even find some bright and beautiful leaves you can use! Once you’ve collected your items, press your findings in the inside pages of a thick book for about 3 or 4 days.

The only other things you’ll need are:

• Cardstock
• Scissors
• Glue
• Contact paper, packing tape​, or a laminator
• Single hole punch
• Yarn, string, or jute

Let’s get crafty!

1. Cut the cardstock into the size you’d like your bookmark to be.
2. Use your pressed decorations to jazz up that cardstock, then cover it up with your contact paper, packing tape, or by using a laminator.
3. Then trim off your extra plastic before punching holes and adding your yarn, string, or jute to help you easily find your pages!

The Earth Rangers App is where kids go to save animals! It’s free to join and you’ll have access to real-world Missions like this one. Plus, you can adopt an animal to support conservation projects, and learn all about animals in the Wild Wire Blog. Find activities like this, and so much more in the App!

Today’s Eco Activity: Become a Food Waste Warrior!

Today we’re celebrating the first ever International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste – and it’s a really important day! Did you know that Canadians waste $31 billion worth of food each year? That means almost half of all the food in Canada goes out with the trash, and the energy that was used to grow, pick, package and transport is totally wasted too!

It’s really easy to accidentally let food to go waste – like the grated cheese that’s growing fuzz or lettuce that’s turned into goo at the back of the fridge. But with some planning, we can cut back on the amount of food we waste! We’re challenging you to master one of these three food-saving skills:

• Reuse parts of food that you usually throw away. You can turn potato skins into chips, or make a soup base from the bones of your roasted chicken!
• Multicoloured tissue paper, or newspaper (for your fishies!)
• Make a meal out of leftovers. Omelets are a great breakfast hack for this: just toss in what didn’t get eaten the night before! And homemade pizza with leftover meats and veggies as toppings for dinner!!
• Reorganize your fridge so that you can see everything inside. Put the “oldest” food at the front so it’s eaten first and not forgotten!

Be sure to snap a pic of your family tackling one (or all!!) of these food-saving tasks and tag us on social media so we can celebrate all the saved bites from the trash bin!!

The Earth Rangers App is where kids go to save animals! It’s free to join and you’ll have access to real-world Missions like this one. Plus, you can adopt an animal to support conservation projects, and learn all about animals in the Wild Wire Blog. Find activities like this, and so much more in the App!

Today’s Eco Activity: Maritime Lanterns

Have you ever wanted your very own fishy friends at home? Or some snazzy lighting to warm up a cool fall evening? This fun DIY/upcycle craft will cross both off your list, with a nod to #WorldMaritimeDay – that’s today!

You’ll need:

• Blue tissue paper (for the water)
• Multicoloured tissue paper, or newspaper (for your fishies!)
• Fish bowls (or other glass containers – a used/clean pickle jar would work!)
• White school glue
• Water
• Glitter
• Decorative stones (optional)
• An LED candle or tealight
• Paint brush(es)

Here’s how:

1. Mix roughly 3 parts glue with 1 part warm water.
2. Cut your tissue paper into roughly 2in x 2in pieces and your chosen “fish paper” into fish shapes.
3. On the outside of your glass bowl, paint on some of your glue and water mixture, stick on your tissue paper, then paint a light layer of glue over top. Allow it to dry and add another layer or two on.
4. Once your “water” layers are set, add in your fishies! Layer on the glue in the same way that you did with your “water” paper. Allow it to fully dry (maybe overnight, depending on how messy you get!).
5. Add any finishing bedazzlement, including decorative stones inside your bowl before putting your light inside.
6. Light it up and sing a fun maritime song! There’s lots online to choose from!

Want to swim the extra mile to help aquatic animals?

For a limited time only, when you adopt a red knot, thick-billed murre, or Patagonian sea lion with one of our Plush Wildlife Adoption kits, you’ll be awarded with a limited edition marine amulet to wear and display with pride!

The Earth Rangers App is where kids go to save animals! It’s free to join and you’ll have access to real-world Missions like this one. Plus, you can adopt an animal to support conservation projects, and learn all about animals in the Wild Wire Blog. Find activities like this, and so much more in the App!

Today’s Eco Activity: Dead Battery Rummage

Don’t forget about this truly electric CONTEST, because it’s ending soon!! Batteries that go out with the trash end up in landfills and can be harmful to the environment. When you take used batteries to a battery drop-off location, you’re doing the planet a big favour! Properly recycling the batteries in your remote controls, toys, and other electronics can help protect animals.

For this Battery Blitz, you’ll have to collect as many dead batteries as you can, and store them in your very own homemade battery collection box!

To enter the contest, snap a pic of your battery box, fill out the official entry form and cross your fingers – just by helping properly recycle your batteries, you could WIN awesome prizes, like this epic bike adventure pack!

The Earth Rangers App is where kids go to save animals! It’s free to join and you’ll have access to real-world Missions like this one. Plus, you can adopt an animal to support conservation projects, and learn all about animals in the Wild Wire Blog. Find activities like this, and so much more in the App!