Planeteer Alliance Partners with CNN for Global ‘Call to Earth’ Day

On December 4, 2024, CNN held its fourth annual Call to Earth Day, in which schools, individuals, and organizations worldwide took action through a series of trash clean-ups in a collective effort to improve the planet they’ll one day inherit. This year, CNN teamed up with the Captain Planet Foundation’s Planeteer Alliance to feature the work of Planeteers on this day. 

20 Planeteers received funding from the Planeteer Alliance to aid with the cost of hosting a clean-up for Call to Earth Day. These Planeteer-led events impacted over 400 young people across four countries and inspired community-driven action across the globe.

One Planeteer, Saviour Iwezue, gathered over 140 young people in her community in Lagos, Nigeria. This event kicked off with meaningful discussions about CNN’s Call to Earth Day theme for 2024: Connecting Generations. 

“We used Yoruba Proverbs about the environment to help students reflect on how the past can help us solve present challenges,” shared Saviour about the impact of this discussion. She and her team then began a clean-up with local schools and volunteers and collected 10 trash bags filled with waste. Saviour explained that these students were so excited and highly motivated to clean up their community and that they all walked away with a better understanding of the history of their land, and their ability to lead the charge towards a better future. 

Another clean-up took place in the Kuwinda Slums in Karen, Nairobi, Kenya led by Planeteer Natalie Bullut. Natalie led her group of peers in a discussion about the culture of pollution, how communities develop waste management issues and how they can find practical solutions that best serve the community members and their local environment. 

Natalie used the CNN Call to Earth Day as a way to increase awareness of an issue she has been pursuing as her Planeteer Alliance Season of Solutions Campaign. To find out more about how you can support the ongoing work of Natalie and her team, check out our Season of Solutions Crowdfunding page. 

As these young leaders continue to drive change in their own neighborhoods, the message is clear: collective action, rooted in cultural awareness and environmental responsibility, is essential to creating a sustainable future. The Call to Earth Day not only highlighted the environmental challenges we face but also celebrated the youth-driven solutions that are leading the way toward a cleaner, healthier world.