Earth Day 2022: 6 positive changes to make to be kinder to Earth this year
- The Great Global Cleanup: a worldwide campaign to remove billions of pieces of trash from neighbourhoods, beaches, rivers, and parks - reducing waste and plastic pollution, improving habitats, and preventing harm to wildlife and humans.
- #NatureForEveryone: support this call to Government to ensure that everyone, in every community across the country, has a legal right to nature.
- Calculate your personal impact with the WWFs Footprint Calculator: one of the first and most necessary steps in making a difference is understanding the impact you’re having on the planet.
- Get Coca-Cola to use 100% recycled plastic bottles: sign to petition for Coca Cola to increase their use of recycled material in their packaging by 2030 to using 100% of recycled material.
- Ban plastic packaging on fruits and vegetables: France and Spain have recently pledged to ban plastic packaging for fruit and vegetables from January 2022. Petition to get the UK Government to follow suit and reduce unnecessary plastic waste.
- Ban single use cutlery: calling for an urgent ban on some of the most polluting single-use items including cutlery, plates and polystyrene food containers.
2. Educate and Immerse 📚
We all know the wonders, joy and appreciation that being out in nature can give us. Go forth but remember to go lightly, leave no trace and for extra earth love pick up any litter whilst you are at it. And there are plenty of other ways to immerse yourself in the non physical sense too, here are our picks:
- Fav earth loving podcast Mothers of Invention ‘climate change - a man made problem with a feminist solution’
- Fav earth loving org Client Earth a charity using the power of the law to bring about change
- Fav earth loving learning source Ellen Macarthur Foundation pioneers of the ‘circular economy’
- Fav earth loving poem George the Poet seeds of hope
- Fav earth loving spokesperson and author Lucy Seigle
- Fav earth loving Documentary David Attenborough: A life on our planet
3. Cut the plastic tap🚰
Less than 2% of plastic waste produced since the 1950s has been recycled, more than 90% has been landfilled or disposed of in the natural environment according to Forbes. Ditching the single use plastic is a no brainer. Sorry (but not) for listing out the below, we reiterate the more obvious because they are 6 easy ones we can all do.
1.Loo roll 2.Re-usable coffee cup 3. Reusable drink bottle 4. Reusable bag 5. Daily soap 6.Do we need to write Straws, do we really still use those?
And for the sake of our forests, loo roll is front of the queue.
4. Change energy providers ⚡⚡
One the biggest changes you can make towards living a greener life, is switching over to an energy provider that uses renewable energy. Certain energy providers in the UK now offer 100% renewable energy tariffs, allowing customers a greener and cleaner alternative that help reduce carbon emissions. So here are a list of the greenest providers you can switch to today:
5. Eat more plants 🌽 our diet is a big factor when it comes to nature loss and climate change and ultimately, we can’t sustain the way we eat now. Here are 6 delicious vegetarian recipes perfect for this time of the year to inspire more veg in your life
- English garden toasts Anna Jones
- Chickpea and Tofu Korma Curry by Deliciously Ella
- Asparagus cooking with Meera Sodha
- An oldie but a goodie for me Green bean hazelnut salad Ottolenghi
- Silky Squash Risotto by Jamie Oliver
- Little Veggie eats for great kid friendly eating
6. Find your green thumb 🌿
For all the environmental pluses there is also the feel good factor here too. Welcome in the insects and pollinators by filling a pot or even rewilding your lawn with wildflowers. Growing your own herbs helps cut down on food miles, packaging and food waste too by only picking what you need and depending on what you plant they can welcome in the bees too.
Pollinating friendly plants
- Snapdragon
- Lavender
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Lungwort
- Chives