In the wake of World Earth Day, returning Label writer Leah Langley informs us on some of the things we can do to help look after the planet and be more climate conscious, and explains why is it so important that we make these adjustments.
Earth Day is observed, annually, on April the 22nd and it marks the anniversary of the creation of the modern-day environmental movement back in 1970.
When it was established, Earth Day allowed members of the public to voice their concerns about the state of the planet. A junior senator from Wisconsin, Senator Gaylord Nelson, had been concerned about the deteriorating environment in the United States and paved the way for something to be done about it. In 1990, Earth day took to the global stage, mobilising over 200 million people in 141 countries, and bringing worldwide environmental issues to everyone’s attention. Today, Earth Day is recognised as the largest secular observance in the world with more than a billion people involved in the day of action each year, pleading for change to human behaviour and global policies. Although the day itself has done a lot for the environmental movement, it is important to remember that the Earth still needs people to care about it the other 364 days of the year.
With the climate crisis in the rise, scientists have voiced their concerns about pandemics becoming the way of the future as more zoonotic diseases will be transmitted from animals to people. With increasing levels of carbon dioxide becoming trapped in the atmosphere, humans’ proneness to respiratory diseases is also on the rise. It is also anticipated that, by 2050, the climate crisis will have displaced more than a billion people through crop failures, floods, heatwaves, and wildfires. Along with the climate crisis, sea levels have risen more in the last 100 years than they have in the past 2000 years combined. Cities, and even continents, are likely to be underwater far sooner than expected with many countries currently disintegrating. Globally, coral reefs have experienced the worst bleaching and highest dying records since 1980. Over 1 million species have gone extinct due to the acidic oceans destroying ecosystems and dissolving habitats.
It is important that people take every step that they can to help fight the climate emergency. With just small changes from each individual person, the effect to our planet will be monumental. Use a ‘Foodprint’ calculator to work out exactly how your meals are impacting the planet and then see how you can change your diet for the better. Why not try meatless Monday’s? Try to steer away from using single-use plastics and instead use reusable water bottles and take your own bags to the supermarket. Help to stop deforestation by supporting companies that take an active role against it and change your paper bills to online billing if you can. Not only will this save the trees, but it will also save on the fuel used by the postal service to deliver the bills. One of the most impactful ways that you can help protect the planet is by practicing sustainable fashion. Donate your old clothes and home goods rather than throwing them out and consider buying used items too. Just because they’ve been used before, it doesn’t mean that they are out of fashion.
“The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have the facts and the solutions. All we have to do is wake up and change.” – Greta Thunberg
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Edited by Izzie Naish – News Editor
Header designed by Christos Alamaniotis – Head of Design
