The end of April is a unique time for the relationship between people and planet. With National Cannabis Day on April 20 (4/20), Earth Day on April 22, and Arbor Day on the last Friday of the month (this year, April 30), as well as the beginning of an astrological Earth sign season (Taurus), people celebrate our planet in more ways than one.
This year, WeedTube, a social media platform for cannabis content, created a holiday for both cannabis enthusiasts and Earth-lovers by declaring April 21 as Canna4Climate Day. For the inaugural holiday, WeedTube partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation, the largest national nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees, with a fundraising goal of $4,200. To honor Arbor Day and the ongoing mission to rejuvenate our planet, let’s take a look back at what Canna4Climate Day really means.
What is WeedTube’s Canna4Climate Day?
Sandwiched between two proverbial plant-loving holidays, Canna4Climate Day encourages those who celebrate 4/20 to give back to the Earth by cleaning up areas of their community. April 21, 2021 was the first-ever Canna4Climate Day, and the holiday drew in tons of love, support, and eager participants. The official Instagram for the event (@canna4climate) shared some of the posts of the holiday’s celebrators, which ranged from solo projects to group cleanups. WeedTube Co-Founder and Creative Director Arend Richard told us in an interview all about how the initiative got started.
The holiday is an excellent green initiative that also has the power to de-stigmatize the “lazy stoner” stereotype. Canna4Climate Day motivates stoners to be conscious consumers, and recognize the importance of a healthy planet. However, Canna4Climate Day is a non-consumption holiday — so anyone can celebrate!
How to Celebrate Canna4Climate Day
Canna4Climate Day will be a recurring holiday from here on out. In case you missed this year’s debut celebration, the Canna4Climate website provides a step-by-step guide on how to participate in the holiday.
The Canna4Climate website includes a digital pledge, in which prospective participants vow to safely, legally, and consciously celebrate the holiday. In addition, the “Articles & Resources” section provides more information on the Canna4Climate Day initiative, as well as places to donate to help the mission.
People should first find a safe, local area that needs love and care, and take pictures of the space before the cleanup begins. Then, the mission encourages participants to clean the area of any waste, debris, or other detritus that is harming the space. Finally, participants should take photos after their cleanup, then share them online using the hashtag #canna4climate and by tagging @canna4climate.
Sharing the content online not only brings visibility to the holiday, but it helps to mobilize the movement. Posting your Canna4Climate Day celebration online will encourage your followers to join in on some green, clean fun!
The website also features downloadable digital posters, or “social packs,” to share on social media and merchandise like t-shirts and face masks.
Canna4Climate Day 2021
The first Canna4Climate Day had wide-ranging effects, involving activists, influencers, and Earth-lovers from around the United States and Canada. However, due to Instagram’s content restrictions, some participants were unable to share their Canna4Climate Day posts due to the holiday’s affiliation with cannabis. The Canna4Climate team posted the following statement to Instagram elaborating on the difficulties with the censorship:
On Wednesday 4/21, hundreds of cannabis advocates from around the world participated in a new annual holiday dubbed “Canna4Climate Day.” The goal of the new holiday is to bring the cannabis community together to give back to the world after 4/20 by cleaning up areas within their local community. The cannabis community as a whole is filled with incredible individuals who are doing great things for the world and society… It is the goal of the Canna4Climate initiative to show the rest of the world that side of the cannabis community. A noble cause, no? So why then is it the case that nearly every cannabis related advocate and influencer who participated experienced a drastic drop in engagement and exposure on Instagram the week of 4/21?
Instagram censoring and suppressing content is nothing new to the cannabis community… But it has yet to be experienced to this extreme. [Most] worrying is that Instagram [and other social platforms] are acting as gatekeepers to cannabis knowledge, content, and resources. A practice in itself that is entirely problematic. Shame on you Instagram for suppressing the voices of legal cannabis users. Shame on you for suppressing a movement of positivity that benefits the whole world. Shame on you for deciding who gets to be heard.
The cannabis community’s battles with social media and large-platform censorship are still ongoing. Fallout from the premier Canna4Climate Day is a reminder of the rights that those in the industry continue to fight for.
Even still, the event brought out hundreds of people to aid in the restoration of outdoor areas, aided in furthering destigmatization of cannabis culture, and encouragement of clean, conscious consumption.
While shedding light on critical issues, it’s safe to say that Canna4Climate Day’s first run between National Cannabis Day and Earth Day was a success, and hopefully next year will be even better.
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Find out more about Canna4Climate by visiting canna4climate.com. Learn more about The WeedTube and its content creators at theweedtube.com.
