The Guide to Earth Day Events in Los Angeles

The Natural History Museum is hosting Earth Day programming from 11am to 3pm on Sunday, April 21. Stop by the NHM Nature Gardens for live musical performances, hands-on activities, up-close encounters with behind-the-scenes Museum collections, explore the Science of SpongeBob and much more! Free with paid Museum admission and to Members.

The Plant Sale returns to The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA for its second year. Artist Alika Cooper's itinerant collaborative event brings together artists and growers from across LA to celebrate and sell plants & related wares. The event will also feature a Sustainable Skillbuilding composting workshop from noon-1pm led by Compostable LA founder Monique Figueiredo. During this interactive conversation, participants will have the opportunity to ask a compost expert all of their burning questions, learn how to embrace this new habit, and hone their skills further!

The LA Zoo presents the annual Wild for the Planet, a weekend celebration of our precious planet and its rich biodiversity. Taking place from 10am to 4pm on April 20 and 21, Wild for the Planet includes fun and inspiring activities, entertainment, and presentations focused on conservation, sustainability and community.

In celebration of Earth Day, the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, Friends of Griffith Park, and Los Angeles Parks Foundation are hosting a morning of planting native plants, removing invasive plants, and cleaning out catch basins at the Griffith Park Bird Sanctuary.

The Earth Day activities will take place at the Bird Sanctuary from 8:30am to 11am. Free admission, RSVP at Eventbrite.

The Philosophical Research Society presents its first-ever festival, Plantstock! Taking place at PRS over three days of Earth Day Weekend, Plantstock is a celebration of flora in all its splendor and inspiration - in mythos, ritual, wellness and the arts. Plantstock will be overgrown with workshops, lectures & panels discussions, concerts, screenings, book talks, a live podcast recording, a magic lantern show, a groovy listening lounge, local plant based food and crafts vendors, local nursery pop-ups and more.

Tickets to Plantstock are on sale at Eventbrite.

One of LA's most popular botanical gardens, Descanso Gardens is hosting its annual Earth Day Native Blooms Display all week, from Monday, April 22 to Sunday, April 28. View displays created by Descanso's horticulture staff that celebrate our native plants, including majestic oaks. Free with paid admission to Descanso, no registration required.

On Friday, April 19, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures welcomes lifelong activist and two-time Academy Award® winner Jane Fonda for a conversation with world-renowned Harvard earth scientist, Dr. Naomi Oreskes, about the impact of storytelling through film, climate change, the powerful forces working to undermine solutions, and how we can get to a just, sustainable, green economy. Tickets are on sale at the Academy Museum website.

Founded in 1973 by then 18-year-old activist Andy Lipkis, TreePeople is an LA-based nonprofit environmental organization that has inspired more than 3 million people to take action for our environment by planting and caring for trees in forests, mountains, parks and our neighborhoods.

Support TreePeople by volunteering at an Earth Day edition of their weekly Park Work Day, taking place from 9am to noon on Saturday, April 20 at their headquarters in the 45-acre Coldwater Canyon Park atop Mulholland Drive. Help maintain the trails, remove invasive plants, and regrade slopes to protect them from erosion, so that hikers, bikers and school children can continue to enjoy the trails, trees and views in one of LA’s most beloved public parks. Sign up at the TreePeople website.

Environmental nonprofit Heal the Bay is hosting two Earth Day events at the historic Santa Monica Pier on Saturday, April 20. The Nothin' But Sand Beach Cleanup is taking place from 10am to noon. Heal the Bay will provide the supplies - all you need to do is register, sign a waiver and show up! Help make Nothin’ But Sand a zero-waste event by bringing your own buckets, garden gloves, and a reusable mask and water bottle.

The Heal the Bay Aquarium is hosting its family-friendly Earth Day Celebration from 11am to 4pm. Take an Earth Month pledge, participate in a scavenger hunt, learn about our state flower with California Poppy Kits, enjoy arts & crafts, collect Earth Month pins and more. Bonus: everyone who participates in the Beach Cleanup receives free entry to the Aquarium!

Founded by a group of Malibu surfers in 1984, the Surfrider Foundation is a nonprofit grassroots organization with a volunteer-activist network dedicated to protect and enjoy the world's oceans, waves and beaches.

Join Surfrider at the Venice Pier (southside) from 4pm-6pm for the Earth Day Cleanup. Along with joining an active and vibrant community of volunteers, you will gain insight into the work of the Surfrider Foundation at its LA Chapter and on a national level; collect trash from the beach, weigh your findings, and sort/record found items for their trash database. All cleanup equipment will be provided - gloves, grabbers, reusable trash bags, sunscreen, water refill station - just be sure to bring a reusable water bottle.

Inspired by Bogotá’s weekly ciclovía, CicLAvia temporarily closes streets to car traffic and opens them for Angelenos to enjoy as a public park.The biggest open streets event in the country, CicLAvia has brought together more than 1.8 million people to safely bike, walk, skate, roll and dance through L.A. County neighborhoods. Since its inception in 2010, CicLAvia has impacted transportation policy for pedestrians and bikes; and improves air quality by reducing airborne ultrafine particles by more than 20 percent.

Taking place from 9am to 4pm on Sunday, April 21, CicLAvia's second event of the 2024 season will take over Venice Boulevard from Culver City to Palms, Mar Vista and Venice Beach. The route will take participants to local gems like the Museum of Jurassic Technology, The Learning Garden, the iconic Venice Sign, Jonas Never's Touch of Venice mural and the Venice Beach Drum Circle.

Located at the end of the Manhattan Beach Pier, the Roundhouse Aquarium is hosting Keep it Green, Keep it Clean from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, April 20. Family-friendly activities include Plankton Races, Search for Dolphins & Wildlife, CSULB Shark Lab and the Progressive Marine Art Canvas. Free admission, RSVP recommended at the Aquarium website.

The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is hosting its annual Earth Day Beach Cleanup from 9am to noon on Saturday, April 20. Take action to help our local environment by cleaning Cabrillo Beach. Every piece of trash that is picked up from the beach is one less piece of trash in the ocean! Volunteers will also have the opportunity to learn about the impacts of microplastics on ocean animals.

The first 100 volunteers who collect a bucket of trash will receive a free water bottle made from recycled ocean-bound plastic! RSVP at Eventbrite.

Join the Port of Los Angeles at Wilmington Waterfront Park for the 2024 Earth Day Chalkfest, taking place from 10am to 2pm on Saturday, April 20 on the LA Waterfront. Create biodegradable chalk art and participate in fun springtime garden activities for all ages!

Situated on a perch overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the spectacular Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes is celebrating Earth Day with a three-mile guided Adventure Hike on the Alta Vicente Trail to the Pointe Vicente Lighthouse. Watch for Gray Whales as they migrate back North and listen to the sounds of local birds during this relaxing coastal hike. Binoculars can be provided upon request, based on availability. Pricing is $75 for adults and $35 for children ages 6-12.