ACTAsia Earth Day 2026

Inspiring the Next Generation Through Action and Environmental Awareness

“Microplastic pollution is never a far-off environmental crisis; it lies hidden within every little daily choice we make”
Wei Jing, Jiangyuan Primary School 

Earth Day is a core component of ACTAsia’s Caring for Life (CFL) education for children and this year we highlighted the dangers of microplastics. Celebrating Earth Day as part of our CFL education gives teachers and children the opportunity to experience this award-winning education prior to implementing the six-year curriculum course.

This April marked ACTAsia’s SIXTH Earth Day event, continuing our commitment to empowering the next generation through environmental education. Each year, the thoughtful responses from students and teachers reinforce how important it is to help young people understand their connection to the planet and their role in protecting it. Earth Day is a vital opportunity to highlight that meaningful global solutions are only possible when we work together.

Focusing on Microplastics and the Dangers to our Environment  

This year’s focus on microplastic pollution encouraged children to look closely at an environmental issue that is often invisible, yet increasingly urgent. During the Earth Day lessons and activities, students not only expanded their knowledge but also began to recognise how everyday choices can directly affect the environment around them. Their responses highlighted exactly why education remains such a powerful catalyst for change.

This year, we reached an unprecedented milestone:
31,000 children from 92 schools
joined the classroom program.

Insights from the Classroom: Three Teachers Share Their Earth Day Experiences

Introducing Wei Jing from Jiangyuan Primary School in Guangdong Province

Wei Jing delivered ACTAsia’s Earth Day programme through an extra-curricular interest class involving pupils from Year 1 through to Year 5. Miss Jing invited students to explore the meaning of the term ‘microplastics’ for themselves. Their curiosity quickly led into wider questions: “What exactly are microplastics? Where do they come from? How do they end up in our environment?”

A classroom activity called “Sentencing Plastic” brought the issue into sharp focus. Students were shown familiar plastic items—including shopping bags, straws, bottles and food containers—and asked to guess how long each would take to break down in nature. Miss Jing reported: “When the real figures were revealed —one hundred years, five hundred years, even centuries and longer —the whole room broke out in gasps. Wide-eyed and utterly astonished, the children fully grasped the harsh truth: convenience in the moment comes with long-term environmental damage, and just how urgent it is for us all to cut down on single-use plastics.”

The sense of surprise stayed with the students after watching the pioneering film Microplastic Madness. Students saw how microplastics can accumulate inside marine animals, settle into soil and circulate in the air. As Ms Jing noted: “These eye-opening scenes gave them a brand-new perspective on the world they know, leaving a strong impression and helping them gain clear, in-depth knowledge about the harm microplastics can cause.”

For many, this transformed an abstract topic into something immediate and real. During the closing reflection, Miss Jing said that the students shared what they had learned with sincerity and enthusiasm: that microplastics are often invisible but widespread, that they enter water and soil, that marine life consumes them, and that everyday materials such as synthetic clothing can also contribute to the problem. 

The lesson reinforced an important truth: microplastic pollution is not a distant issue. It is closely linked to ordinary daily habits and choices. By the end of the session, Ms Jing explained that students had not only learned scientific facts—they had also begun to understand their own connection to the problem and their potential to be part of the solution. As Ms Jing reflected: “environmental protection becomes meaningful when students see that small habits – repeated consistently – can create real change”.

Introducing Teacher and Volunteer Yu Lijuan from Community School in Tianjin

Ms Lijuan works as a secondary school maths teacher but she is also a volunteer science educator. ACTAsia’s Earth Day message reached beyond the classroom into the wider community when Ms Lijuan ran an environmental protection event combining interactive teaching with practical experience. Children explored microplastics through games, short educational videos and discussion before heading outside for a litter-picking drive in the local community. Ms Lijuan noted that their enthusiasm was immediate and wholehearted. 

One particularly important moment came during a discussion about how microplastics affect marine life. Some children initially felt the issue had little connection to them because they did not live near the sea. That became a valuable opportunity to highlight the interconnected nature of ecosystems and the fact that environmental damage never stays isolated in one place. By the end of the activity, the impact was clear. Students had broadened their horizons, gained a deeper understanding of microplastic pollution and developed a stronger sense of environmental responsibility. 

Ms Lijuan expressed her hope for the future following the Earth Day event: “Holding this popular science event on Earth Day made me hope that environmental lessons on microplastics will reach far more than just primary school pupils, and that such eco-education won’t be limited solely to Earth Day campaigns.”

Introducing Gao Dan from Kaiyuan Road Primary School, Zhejiang Province 

Ms Dan led a focused eco-discussion, encouraging students to think about simple green actions they could take during the school day. To make the issue more tangible, the teacher guided the class through a simple exercise calculating how much waste could accumulate in a day, a week and an entire school term. The results came as a genuine surprise. Students were shocked by how many resources were being wasted without anyone noticing. Following the Earth Day event Ms Dan noted: “Environmental awareness has taken firm root in their minds, and they are striving every day to become responsible young guardians of the school campus and the natural world.”

Together, the class developed their own practical environmental commitments: using both sides of paper, reusing notebooks as scrap paper, turning taps off properly, bringing reusable water bottles, sorting waste correctly and picking up litter whenever they saw it. In the weeks that followed, those commitments began to shape daily habits. Students took greater responsibility for shared spaces, became more conscious of resource use and began demonstrating that sustainability is often built through consistent, small actions. Environmental awareness moved from theory into practice.

As Ms Dan reflected: “I added a few relevant facts from their science lessons, and the students fell silent to reflect deeply. They gradually came to realise that their tiny daily choices can actually make a real difference to the natural world.”

The Positive Impact of Earth Day on day-to-day lives

The experiences shared by these three incredible teachers reinforce a wider hope shared by many educators involved this year: that environmental learning should not be confined to one day on the calendar, but become an ongoing part of how children understand their relationship with the world around them.

Across schools and communities, ACTAsia’s Earth Day 2026 activities showed the lasting impact of combining knowledge with action. Whether students were learning how long plastics remain in the environment, helping to clean their local community or calculating waste in their classroom, they were encouraged to think critically and act with care.

As Wei Jing concluded: “As an educator, every thought and insight shared by the children is invaluable inspiration for me to keep developing life education themed lessons. Protecting the environment is never just an empty slogan, but simple habits anyone can easily keep up each day. Small acts add up to big changes for our planet. Although our lesson was fairly short, I firmly believe that by showing pupils real environmental issues and guiding them to make positive changes through words and actions, we can influence their families and wider communities alike. Together we can cut down plastic waste, safeguard our natural landscapes with steady little efforts, and do our bit to protect the only home we all share —the Earth.”

When children understand the environmental consequences of daily choices—and feel empowered to respond—they begin building habits and values that can influence families, schools and communities far beyond the classroom thereby bringing about positive societal change.

This Earth Day, ACTAsia was proud to support teachers and volunteers in helping young people develop the awareness, compassion and practical commitment needed to care for our shared environment. Together, these small actions are helping grow a generation ready to protect the Earth, not only on Earth Day, but every day.

Join Us in Growing Caring for Life

If you have been inspired by ACTAsia’s Earth Day events and want to learn more about the benefits of sustainable living then please do get in touch. Equally please consider donating to ACTAsia to help further our global reach. 

Your contribution directly fuels our efforts, ensuring that the message of sustainable living reaches even further. Every donation counts, no matter the size. Help us further our cause and ensure a kinder future for animals, people and the environment

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