Msgr. Vincent Haut offers four simple ways Catholics can care for God’s creation in daily life

Catholics did not invent Earth Day. It began in 1970 when I was teaching at Bishop Kenny High School. At the time I thought it was a clever project, but not especially significant. Why make such a fuss about the earth? Caring for the environment seemed like something for other people.

Now Catholics embrace Earth Day. We have something like it during the Season of Creation, which begins Sept. 1 and ends on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct. 4. We call this special observance the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Now Catholics have two moments each year to reflect on the earth — one in April and one in September.

Pope Francis focused the attention of the Church on integral ecology and care for creation. Pope Leo XIV has continued to stress these themes, which are very much in line with Earth Day, observed this year on April 22.

A big danger for us is the temptation to think deeply about the earth on one special day like Earth Day and then return to our routines without making connections between the themes of Earth Day and the realities of our daily lives. So, for Earth Day 2026, here are four suggestions to make Earth Day practical.

1. Think about the earth when you do your laundry.

When I was young, my grandmother did her laundry every Monday. It was the center of her day. Now I find myself doing the same. Handling our clothes and making them clean is a good time to think about the earth. We care for our clothes; we should also care for creation.

Doing the laundry can make us think about water, heat, chemicals, fashion and the many little things in life that affect the world around us. We can do for the earth what we do for our clothes — care for it and treat it with respect.

Pope Francis and Pope Leo want everyone on earth to have clean water, adequate clothing and the ability to care for themselves. When I do my laundry, I think about the people who wash their clothes in ditches, who do not have a faucet and who wonder whether there will be rain.

Even something as ordinary as adding detergent or bleach can make us reconsider the chemicals we use again and again. Maybe there are better ways to do what we do. Maybe we can respect the earth by helping clean it up.

2. Wednesday’s work.

Back in the 1950s, barber shops often closed on Wednesday afternoons. The barbers could go fishing and later attend Wednesday night prayer meetings.

Every Wednesday we should pause and put our work into perspective. We know we should rest on Sunday, but Wednesday can be a good day to slow down as well. It is a good day for other important things — enjoying time near the water, visiting with friends and learning again the stories of God’s love. Mass on a Wednesday evening is also a very good practice.

The first letter of Wednesday can remind us to reflect on our work — what we do and why we do it.

For some people Wednesday is simply a day to get through, the middle of the week after which everything becomes easier. But we can see it instead as a day for wonder, for witness and for reconsidering why we work. The earth will benefit from the time we take to understand more clearly the truth of our life within God’s creation.

3. Say hello to plastic — and goodbye.

I want to make an outlandish suggestion. Each day notice when you first come into contact with plastic. You do not have to write it down or tell anyone about it but simply take note of plastic’s presence in your life.

Plastic generally is not a good thing for us or for the earth. It fills our landfills, requires chemicals to produce and costs a great deal.

So when you notice your first piece of plastic each day, say hello to plastic — and then think about how you might say goodbye to plastic.

Little by little we can improve the condition of our earth. We can learn to respect its rhythms and appreciate its blessings. We can make space for people who are standing on the sidelines. We can restore balance and become better stewards of God’s world.

4. Stop smoking.

Finally, consider your own health as part of caring for God’s creation.

While my grandmother was doing the laundry, my grandfather often sat in his chair smoking his pipe and reading the newspaper. If it was his day to work in the garden, he might be smoking a cigarette there as well.

Reading the newspaper and working in the garden were good things. But that habit of smoking has now been recognized for what it is — harmful to our health and to those around us. Most of us have turned away from tobacco in any form.

If you still smoke, I recommend that you stop on Earth Day 2026. If you do not smoke, God bless you. Embrace another good habit.

May Earth Day 2026 bring all of us God’s blessings.

–Msgr. Vincent Haut is a senior priest of the Diocese of St. Augustine and a regular contributor to the St. Augustine Catholic.