Luckily for you, a number of companies are offering plenty of ways for you to get involved. It’s as easy as sending a text, buying a candle or liking a Facebook page.

Aveda Clean Water Changes Lives:
Aveda EarthMonth2013

Watch this video.

If you can’t, here’s the text:

“Before the well, this is how moms in Madagascar got water. It took all day. Before the well, moms had to walk 6 km (3.73 miles) for clean water. The water wasn’t always healthy. And sometimes kids got sick. There wasn’t enough water to grow fruits, vegetables or flower. Then there were all these Light the Way candles. Each one meant Global Greengrants Fund received $12 to fund clean water projects. 100% of the suggested retail price is donated to Global Greengrants to support clean water projects. One of those projects came to Madagascar and they got a well. Now moms don’t have to fetch water from the river. Kids don’t get sick as often. The moral of our story? Clean water changes lives.”

Want to help? Purchase a Light the Way candle. Or buy one of these 2013 Earth Month T-shirt.  

H-E-B Earth Day Bag Giveaway

If you’re a Texan, head on over to your local H-E-B location for the company’s H-E-B Earth Day Bag Giveaway on April 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Just drop five plastic shopping bags into the storefront recycling bin, and you’ll receive a coupon for a free special-edition H-E-B Earth Day reusable bag.

EcoTools Living Beautifully Project

In honor of Earth Month this year, EcoTools, which makes eco-conscious beauty and bath accessories, has announced the Living Beautifully Project. From April 4 through April 30, $1 from each purchase made on EcoTools.com will be added to a total donation made to nonprofit organizations, up to $100,000. Participate in this worthy cause and you’ll receive free shipping with code LIVEBEAUTIFUL at checkout. In June, EcoTools will nominate three nonprofit organizations to be considered for the Living Beautifully Project grant, and will rely on its social community to vote for the group.

KitchenAid, Abt Electronics
promote recycling

KitchenAid is partnering with Abt Electronics to encourage the responsible disposal of small electric kitchen appliances. From April 18 through May 16, Abt customers will receive an instant rebate toward the purchase of a new KitchenAid small appliance when they bring in any brand of small electric kitchen appliances to the store.  The rebate program will offer $10 off new KitchenAid hand mixers, hand blenders, toasters, coffee grinders, slow cookers and waffle makers; $20 off KitchenAid coffee makers, blenders, countertop ovens and food processors; and $40 off of any KitchenAid stand mixer. Participants will also have an opportunity to receive a free KitchenAid cookbook after completing an online survey.

So if you live near Glenview, Ill., just bring your small electric appliances to the Abt store at 1200 North Milwaukee Ave. or to the Abt on-site recycling center located right behind its retail store.

Michaels plants trees

Help Michaels plant 10,000 trees this Earth Day by opting in to receive text alerts from the company. Text RELEAF to 273283 during April, and Michaels will make a donation that allows Global ReLeaf to plant 10,000 trees. And check out Michaels’ LookBook for craft-conscious ideas.

Whole Foods Earthling initiative

Attention all Whole Foods-lovin’ Earthlings — aka humans inspired by the earth’s beauty and bounty. Head on over to EarthlingMonth.com to share ideas and celebrate the planet via images, tweets and videos. Visit Earthlingmonth.com/#/participate to upload a message, photo or video using Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Or use the hashtag #WFMEarthling via Twitter or Instagram. Whole Foods Market has also created the Earthling Guide with tips on how to help maintain the planet’s beauty and minimize your footprint. And don’t forget to stop by your local Whole Foods Saturday, April 20, for “Earthly” activities, samples and more. And click here and here for Earth Month tips.

Caribou Coffee

Caribou Coffee and Project 7 will be selling its products — like water, mints and gum — in all U.S. Caribou locations to support seven areas of need around the world.

In addition, Caribou, in partnership with Project 7, will plant a fruit tree in Central and South America for each new Facebook “like” that the Caribou Coffee page receives during April. The maximum number of trees that will be planted will be 100,000.

Delta’s Carbon Offset Program

This April, Delta Air Lines will match up to $25,000 of carbon-offset contributions made by its customers in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. The airline’s year-round carbon offset program allows customers to purchase and retire carbon offsets on Delta.com to reduce the carbon dioxide associated with their travel. Retired offsets are tracked on Markit Environmental Registry. Proceeds benefit The Nature Conservancy’s Rio Bravo Project, which conserves tropical forest and wildlife habitat in northern Belize. Customers who purchase a ticket at Delta.com have the option of contributing to the carbon offset program at $15 per metric ton. In the last 12 months, Delta and its customers have purchased 4,472 metric tons of carbon offsets.

Honest Tea’s The Great Recycle

If you’ve got empty beverage containers lying around, head on over to Honest Tea’s 30-foot recycling bins, coming to a number of cities during April and beyond. You read that right: It’s 30 feet tall, and Honest Tea wants you to join them at any one of its “The Great Recycle” events to trade in your containers for T-shirts, yoga mats, gift certificates, bicycles and more.

Confirmed dates include:

• April 17-18: The Great Recycle at Earth Month at Union Station, Washington, D.C.
• April 20-21: Earth Day Dallas, Dallas
• April 21: Earth Day New York Celebration, Union Square, NYC
• June 7-8: Strolling of the Heifers – Brattleboro, Vt.
• July 18-21: All Good Music Festival – Thornville, Ohio
• Aug. 2-3: The Seattle Great Recycle – Seattle Center, Seattle

Got more? Add your Earth Month initiatives and deals below and on our Facebook page.

Washington, D.C.

If you will be in Washington, D.C., this weekend, check out Earth Day on the National Mall.  This rally will bring together thousands of people from around the country to express support for environmental change.
When: April 22, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.

New York, N.Y.

Still haven’t recycled that old cell phone? Then check out the Sims Recycling Solutions NYC SAFE Disposal Events across the five boroughs.
When: April 22, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Jersey City, N.J.

Join the Hudson County Improvement Authority for its annual 5K Run/Walk along the Hudson River Waterfront followed by an Earth Day fair at Liberty State Park.
HCIA Earth Day 5K Run/Walk and Fair
When: April 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Bridgeport, Conn.

Celebrate art, music and poetry for Earth Day at McLevy Green at this picnic-style festival.
When: April 22, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Philadelphia

If you will be in Philadelphia this weekend, don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to make your home more eco-friendly.
When April 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Boston

Join the Foundation For A Green Future as it hosts its first annual “GreenFilmFest for Earth Day.” The festival will showcase films highlighting environmental issues from around the globe.
When: April 22

Los Angeles

Calling all yoga, music, dance and organic-food fans: The Tadasna Yoga & Music Festival in Santa Monica is the event to get your “om” on.
When: April 20 to 22

San Francisco

San Fran shows why it’s one of America’s greenest cities with a full day of music, workshops and more.
When: April 22

Seattle

This Earth Day weekend, help keep the Duwamish River looking beautiful for future generations. No experience needed.
When: April 21, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Nationwide

Still don’t have a reusable bag, or just need an extra one? Target will be giving away 1.5 million reusable bags on April 22. Click here to find a store near you.

Whether or not you participate in an Earth Day event, going green doesn’t have to stop on April 22. HellaWella asked its fans for ways to go green all year. Here’s what they said:

“Avoid eating GMO food.”
“No littering, ever!”
“Recycle everything.”
“Go paperless with all your bills, and opt to not print a receipt from ATMs.”
“Give to a green charity.”
“Live plastic-free.”

What are your Earth Day plans? Share them with us below.

National Environmental Education Week (April 15 to 21) is a program from the National Environmental Education Foundation that urges educators, parents and community leaders to organize events that encourage students to think critically about the environment and how they can make a difference in their schools and communities.

This year’s theme involves increasing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and helping students use the environment as a way to study these crucial subjects. To help us understand just how important STEM education and careers are for our planet, EE Week has created this handy infographic.

National Environmental Education Week also includes a photo contest to encourage participants to engage their schools or organizations in environmental education.

Whether you are a teacher in a traditional classroom, a homeschooler or work for youth organization, you can participate in National Environmental Education Week. Click here to register.

The Environment

If Don Draper was around today, one wonders if he would use his slick charm to develop a campaign defending some of the world’s worst polluters. Or, as a known risk taker, would he have been one of the first to embrace efforts to promote better environmental protection?

If “Mad Men” runs for several more seasons, we may soon find out. As the show moves through the 1960s, its characters will be forced to confront a changing world that includes a greater concern about the environment. After all, it was 1970 that saw the creation of two of America’s most iconic symbols of environmental stewardship: the Environmental  Protection Agency and Earth Day.

Established on Dec. 2, 1970, EPA consolidated a variety of federal programs into one agency with a clear mission of ensuring environmental protection. And while today government spending in this area isn’t as high as, say, the Department of Defense — EPA’s enacted 2012 budget is $8.4 billion compared with DoD’s $671 billion — there are still many who feel the agency is an unnecessary burden on American taxpayers, with GOP candidates like Ron Paul advocating for its elimination.

1970 also saw the first observance of Earth Day. During the late 1960s, Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson grew frustrated with the environment’s lack of political attention and recruited activist Denis Hayes to organize a teach-in on April 22. Thus, Earth Day was born. According to National Geographic, an estimated 20 million Americans participated in environmental rallies and other events on that first Earth Day. Today, Earth Day is celebrated by more than a billion people in 180 nations around the world.

Public Health

In the fourth season of “Mad Men,” Don Draper makes the brash move of formerly announcing in The New York Times that his agency (Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce) will no longer accept tobacco accounts. And while that action drew the ire of his associates, Draper was on the right track; by 1969, the way cigarettes were advertised would change forever.

In 1965, the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act was created, requiring all cigarettes to carry the label “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health.” The law also forbade labels on cigarette advertisements and required the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW) to report annually to Congress on the health consequences of smoking.

In 1969, the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act took things further with a more decisive warning label: “Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined that Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.” The law also prohibited cigarette advertising on television and radio.

The latest action on cigarettes and public health will begin in September when the FDA will require larger, more prominent cigarette health warnings on all cigarette packaging and advertisements in the United States.

Of course, smoking wasn’t the only vice to gain attention after excessive use in the 1950s and ’60s. Alcohol consumption was a part of everyday life, and while alcoholism was already considered a major health problem, the men of the “Mad Men” era had no qualms about indulging in their favorite drinks at any time of the day. In the early 1950s, alcohol was already considered a personality disorder by the American Psychiatric Association , and in 1956, the American Medical Association declared it an illness.

And imbibing wasn’t just for the men. With all we know today about alcohol and pregnancy, it was hard to watch Betty Draper sipping on cocktails with a cigarette in hand while pregnant with her latest child. However, at the time, little was known about the effects of alcohol on a developing fetus. In fact, it wasn’t until 1973, when the term “fetal alcohol syndrome” was coined by doctors Kenneth L. Jones and David W. Smith, that the medical community began to seriously examine the effects of alcohol on child development.

Despite the attention alcohol was already receiving during the time of “Mad Men,” the massive effort to warn the public about its potential health risks had yet to begin. Just as the aforementioned fetal alcohol syndrome was first recognized in the 1970s, so too were efforts put under way to have warning labels placed on alcoholic beverages. In 1979, one of the first efforts to require warning labels on all alcoholic beverages was adopted by the U.S. Senate, but never made it to the House of Representatives. Over the next decade, the health warning law would come to pass, with today’s version including the mandated “Government Warning” before every label.

Equal Rights

If it wanted to more accurately reflect the times, “Mad Men” would be called “Mad Christian Straight (or Closeted Gay) White Men.” Reflecting society at the time, the agency leaders are all white males, and while strong female characters like Peggy and Joan have emerged, they are constantly battling sexism and those who question their business ability. African-Americans on the show have it even worse, with the only characters being in service roles, such as elevator operator. And if you happened to be gay, you had best keep it to yourself, as Sal did.