Earth Day 2022 is Friday, April 22nd and this year the annual event is all about investing in our planet to build a safe and prosperous future for everyone. Unless businesses around the globe act now, the effects of climate change will impact economies, increase scarcity, drain profits and dampen job prospects. That’s in addition to rising sea levels which will have severe impacts on coastal communities as well as far-reaching effects on every single person on Earth.
This year the team behind Earth Day is promoting the Earth Day Climate Action Summit, which is centred all-around reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century to keep global temperature rises below 1.5 ° Celsius. This is the required greenhouse gas reduction needed by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement.
While undoubtedly much of the progress needed to effectively tackle climate change must come from corporations and governments, that doesn’t mean that we as individuals don’t have important roles to play.
There are a multitude of ways that you can get involved, from attending Earth day events, joining in the movement on social media, downloading the Earth Day 2022 toolkit, helping plant trees or perhaps organising a clean-up. While Earth Day is one day a year, there are many ways you can invest in our planet to combat climate change any day of the year. Why not talk to management at your company about implementing more recycling, getting rid of single-use plastics and other sustainable initiatives?
When choosing which politicians you want to represent you from a council level all the way to the federal level, choose ones that align with your views on climate change, sustainability and the environment. As well as voting in elections, you can also vote with your feet too. Many companies aren’t doing enough to tackle environmental issues, so you can choose to avoid supporting them with your custom and buy from companies that are putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to climate change and sustainability.
The Earth Day website has a list of 52 ways you can invest in our planet. One day for every week of the year; things you can implement on a weekly and even daily basis to ensure the impact of Earth Day is felt year-round. You can read the full list here, but below are a few favourites to inspire you:
- Email, don’t print
- Reduce food wastage
- Calculate your carbon footprint
- Calculate your plastic consumption
- Ask for green power
- Switch to reusable bags
- Organise a community clean up
- Compost
- Switch to online bills and statements
