5 things to do this Earth Day🌎

With Earth Day 2024 coming up on Monday 22nd April, its a day to show the planet some love and check in with our sustainability goals after the first quarter of the year. If you need some inspiration, here are 5 actions you can take this Earth Day to make a difference and celebrate this planet we call home…

• 1 – Pick up any litter you see on your walk: Whatever you get up to on Monday, going to work, the shops or getting some fresh air, make sure to take a bag or jacket with pockets so you can collect any litter you find along the way. Not only is litter polluting and dangerous for wildlife, but your neighbourhood will look and feel much nicer without it. Stay safe and don’t pick up anything that could be risky, like sharp edges, without the right equipment, but everyone can play their part when it comes to plastic. Once you’ve spent one day litter picking you’ll want to continue keeping your local area clean and plastic-free! 🥤
• 2 – Make a packaging-free lunch: Whether at home or to take to work, make a tasty meal for your Monday lunch without any single-use packaging. Feel ultra organised as you feast on your carefully packed lunch without needing any trips to the bin and be the envy of all your co-workers. Chef-level recipes optional. 🍴
• 3 – Make one wildlife-friendly addition to your outdoor space: Regardless of your space, everyone can enhance what they have to benefit local wildlife. You could set up a bird feeder to support local birdlife, put out a water bowl for visitors like hedgehogs to use or use a window ledge to plant flowering plants for pollinators including bees. Everyone can green their space and make it a home for more than just our own families, so take a look at your space this Earth Day and give something back to your non-human neighbours. 🐝
• 4 – Learn something new: The official Earth Day website (https://www.earthday.org/) has lots of information, especially on this year’s theme Planet Vs Plastics, with quizzes you can take to see how much you know about the impact of plastics, such as on human health. See how well you do and maybe learn an extra something you didn’t know before… There are also lots of other resources including toolkits which are helpful if you are new to any topics or want to share what you’ve learnt with others. 💭
• 5 – Switch appliances off for one hour: That’s right, choose an hour on Earth Day while you’re home to switch off all plugs like TVs, lights and kitchen appliances and do something disconnected from energy use, such as spending time outside, connecting with friends or family, doing a hobby or facing that to-do list of tasks we never get round to. Switching things off at the wall and living without lights for an hour may seem scary, but it shows us just how much energy we are using all the time without noticing, and might identify things in our home that we don’t actually need turned on all the time. An Earth Hour for an Earth Day! 💡

Whatever you do this Earth day to protect our planet, remember sustainability isn’t about special days or global events, its a lifestyle and a special day everyday. All of these activity examples have benefits beyond environmental protection: Cleaner and safer neighbourhoods, healthier and less processed meals, connection to nature, having access to lifelong learning and being an active citizen, reduced energy usage and digital detoxing. Sustainable lives are happier lives too, so this Earth Day check in with your year so far and if its got a bit off track now’s the time to fall back in love with life and make a difference. Happy Earth Day 2024! 💚