Students of Scholar Fields Public School taking part in awareness program on the eve of World earth day on April 21, 2014 in Patiala, India. (Bharat Bhushan/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

The environmental news from the last year hasn't been great: carbon levels are the highest they've been in millennia, deforestation is rising at alarming rates and some environmentalists say that it's time to start preparing for the apocalypse. The president has tried to curb greenhouse emissions, but even he is releasing 1.73 million pounds of carbon today.

It's hard to find an uplifting story about the environment right now, but on the 44th Earth Day, people who care about the planet are trying to remain hopeful - and companies are trying to use the day to get some good PR.

Apple, for instance, has changed the logo on some of its stores to feature a green leaf, and is encouraging its employees to wear green. It's also starting a program letting consumers recycle their old products.

Google is featuring lovely animals on its homepage today.

Even climate change deniers are getting in on the action, with Donald Trump hosting Earth Day events at his hotels and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey now offering green cleaners 50 percent off.

But you can get involved too! A good place to start is the EPA website, which has a list of Earth Day events across the U.S.

And after a day of picking up trash or planting trees, perhaps you feel like sitting back and watching a good nature documentary. Sure, screening movies uses more electricity than your fridge, but there are absolutely gorgeous movies about the earth out there, and this is a perfect day to watch one of them.

After all, we have the potential to completely destroy nature within our lifetimes. Why not find beauty in the world while it still exists?