Every 22nd April since 2009, World Earth Day has been officially celebrated around the world. The goal of this important date is to raise awareness about issues such as global warming, pollution, biodiversity conservation and overpopulation in order to protect the Earth.
Although the United Nations did not make this the official date until 2009, World Earth Day has long been celebrated. It dates back to the 1970s, when a real concern for caring for the environment began to emerge on an international scale, with the first demonstrations in defense of the planet.
Each year a theme is chosen for the celebration of World Earth Day. This year’s is “Invest in our planet”, with the aim of involving not only administrations, governments or companies, but every segment of the population to work on caring and protecting our planet.
Therefore, at the campaign “With R for…” we also join in celebrating such an important day with our proposal for a series of actions and activities that you can carry out to defend the planet:
- Planting and growing plants: there are many ways to do this. From home, you can start growing new plants in pots, both indoors and outdoors. You can also tend to and be responsible for an organic garden if you have a plot of land. If not, you can always get involved with an existing allotment, such as those included in the “Huertos de Madrid” program. Lastly, you can also participate in collective reforestation in your town or nearby natural surroundings.
- Cleaning up natural environments: rubbish can sometimes pile up in natural environments such as beaches, forests or mountain areas. An effective way of actively participating in World Earth Day is to help cleaning up of one of these environments, removing the rubbish and reducing both pollution and the risk to any species living there.
- Donations: we tend to think of donations in the financial sense, but you can also donate food to people or associations to help reduce food waste.
- Fighting food waste: in addition to donations, you can also fight food waste in many other ways. Plan your shopping every day and every week with only those products that you are going to consume. You can also use one of the apps on your mobile device that try to reduce wasting food that is close to its use-by-date. This way you will be able to buy products at a lower cost and avoid wasting any.
- Enjoy nature: we encourage you to choose any healthy route in a natural environment. You can choose to travel on foot or by bicycle. Look for a wooded park, a riverside area… anywhere is good. You can also visit a botanical garden to learn a little more about the varieties there. And remember to enjoy yourself, but always respecting the environment as much as possible. Pick up all your rubbish and don’t leave anything on the ground.
- Composting: this can be the perfect supplement if you decide to set up a vegetable garden or collaborate in one. By composting, we apply the circular economy to organic waste perfectly. Instead of being placed in the brown bin for recycling, we can turn this organic waste into the raw material needed to create new life in our garden.
- Build and set up a bird feeder: it can be in your home or in any environment where you usually are, such as your school or workplace. Try and reuse any waste you may have around the house, such as a plastic bottle, to build one. This way, you will be lending a second life to waste by avoiding its disposal, and you will also be helping to feed the birds in your area.
- Spreading the word: informing and raising public awareness about the importance of respecting the environment and caring for the planet is essential for all of us to become aware. So you can choose to educate yourself about environmental issues, learn more, and begin to spread the word to those close to you. Online is another option: via blogs, streaming or social networks; all tools that have a significant impact on the public.
- Volunteer work: lastly, we would like to remind you that you can always sign up for any other type of volunteer work in defense of the planet. In addition to reforestation and cleaning up natural environments, you can always find work groups that carry out different activities to help protect the planet.
These are all our suggestions to celebrate Earth Day here at the campaign, “With R for …”. However, remember that any day is a good day to start carrying out these activities that are friendly to the environment and our planet, and that World Earth Day is the perfect excuse to get started.
Taking care of our planet is easy when all of us do it!