As the world comes together for Earth Day 2022 on 22 April, we wanted to share some simple, practical ways all of us can get involved and take action today to tackle climate change.
An annual coming together of people, businesses and governments, Earth Day isn’t just an awareness day – after 52 years it’s now a global movement involving more than one billion people in 193 countries!
The theme this year is ‘Invest In Our Planet’ and it’s a wake-up call to the world to take action before it’s too late.
As a small start-up spirits brand, we’re doing our bit to make a difference to the planet – from our zero plastic commitment, use of eco packaging, fundraising for sea turtle conservation and off-setting by planting and protecting seagrass, the ocean wonder-plant - but there’s always more we can do, both individually and collectively. Given the huge challenges our planet is now facing, it’s time for us all to step up and make a change.
Here are ten great ideas to show your love of our planet and support the aims and objectives of Earth Day:
- Tune into Earth Day Live - to embrace change we need to first understand more about the many challenges our planet is facing. While the urgency of our situation is plain for all to see, the answers are not always so easy. Tune into the Earth Day Climate Summit, live on April 22, to join the debate and learn more about the solutions that will help deliver the greenhouse gas reductions needed by 2030 – in just eight years – to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement, our first step towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century.
- Pick up rubbish while you run - The Great Global Cleanup is a worldwide campaign to remove billions of pieces of rubbish from neighborhoods, beaches, rivers, lakes, trails, and parks — reducing waste and plastic pollution, improving habitats, and preventing harm to wildlife and humans. Whether you prefer to walk, run or crawl, why not get stuck in and do your bit for your little corner of the world by picking up rubbish as you go. Make a pledge today at https://earthday.raisely.com/
- Organise a community cleanup – why not go one step further and organise a full-on community clean up? Team up with your neighbours and friends to blitz your local area! You’ll need to be a little more organised if you want to scale up your clean up though, so make sure you follow the tips here.
- Compost – instead of sending your green waste to landfill, why not create your own compost and help the wildlife in your back garden? Here’s a great getting started guide from our friends at Shropshire Wildlife Trust.
- Become a seagrass spotter! Did you know that seagrass can absorb carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests?! It’s an ocean wonder-plant that is critical to our blue planet and to marine life like our beloved sea turtles. If you love the ocean like we do, why not support the amazing work of our friends at Project Seagrass and help protect the threatened sea grasses of our world one photo at a time? Download the SeagrassSpotter app and, when you spot seagrass, take a photo and upload it. By becoming a Citizen Scientist you’ll help Project Seagrass learn more about the seagrass meadows in your area so, together, we can protect them.
- Say no to single use plastic. We can all play a part in tackling plastic pollution. Simple choices make all the difference – like picking up and reusing a box for your shopping, rather than buying a bag, or refusing a plastic straw in your holiday cocktail. Check out these nine tips from Greenpeace.
- Turn off the lights (and anything else that’s not in use!) – you don’t need anything to make this happen, just be aware of your own use of electricity and switch off – the lights, the TV, phone charges and anything else that’s not needed – whenever you can. If we all did this it would make a massive difference to energy consumption.
- Plant a tree! There are so many ways to support tree planting today. Sign up for a personal offsetting service like Ecologi, which lets you plant your own forest for less than the cost of a cup of coffee per week. Or go large by helping plant a Giant Sequoia with https://onelifeonetree.com/ and capture your entire lifetime carbon footprint. Or simply start in your own back yard…
- Calculate your footprint – do you know how much carbon you use? Start to better understand your environmental footprint by completing this quick and easy questionnaire from WWF.
- Use a reusable water bottle – this one is SO easy! Instead of buying bottled water and adding to the single use plastic crisis, get yourself a reusable bottle and simply refill with tap water? In the UK a staggering 38.5 million plastic bottles are used every single day – and 16 million are put into landfill, burnt or leak into the environment and oceans EVERY SINGLE DAY. You’ll save a packet too – did you know the average price of a litre of tap water in the UK is 0.1 pence, compared to 65 pence for bottled water. Against a backdrop of rising living costs, this one really is smart on every level.
You can learn more at the official Earth Day website.