World Environment Day, often identified by the acronym WED (World Environment Day), is an event held every year on June 5 to raise awareness of the need to take positive action for the environment. This day is managed by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and is the culmination of environmental activities undertaken throughout the year by UNEP and other organizations and individuals around the world. Taking part in these celebrations gives you the opportunity to share your ideas and activities to make our planet cleaner, greener and positive.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Participate in World Environment Day Events
Step 1. Visit the World Environment Day website
Go to worldenviromentday.global/en (the site is not available in Italian) and take some time to browse the site to see what interests you most. You can read stories and news about the environment and understand how to participate in events.
You can also use the site to register an activity that you, your school, business or community are organizing for World Environment Day. The great thing about registering your business is that you can inspire others by explaining to them what you are doing
Step 2. Find out what the environmental theme of the current year is
For 2021, for example, the theme is "Let's restore nature", with the aim of encouraging people to spend time in nature to appreciate its beauty and magnificence, also with a view to implementing increasingly eco-sustainable behaviors.
Check which is the host country for the current year. In 2021, for example, the host country is Pakistan
Step 3. Check the activities already planned in your area
You may want to attend an already planned event or even help out (if you register early) by signing up as a volunteer for the event itself. Check the World Environment Day website and search the internet to find events happening near you.
Step 4. Add a photo or video to the nature album to share your favorite place
The World Environment Day website is working to create the largest nature album in the world. Take a picture or record a video of your favorite natural place and publish it in the album. For example, you could take a photo of a lake or mountain, make a video showing a thunderstorm, or create a time-lapse of particularly scenic clouds.
Step 5. Promote World Environment Day on social media
Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media to promote this event. Share events in your area, cite news about the environment, post photos taken in nature or provide advice on how to live in a more sustainable way. Whichever way you choose, spread the word to let your friends, family and followers know that World Environment Day is approaching!
Method 2 of 3: Organize an Event for World Environment Day
Step 1. Collect recyclable items to reduce waste
Post signs in your neighborhood to let people know they can leave the materials for recycling at your home or chosen location, then take them to where they can be recycled. This will be especially useful if you pick up items that can't be recycled at your local sorting center, such as electronics, batteries, and old paint cans.
Step 2. Organize a film festival to focus on environmental issues
You could organize a film festival in your community focusing on ecological issues. Projects An Inconvenient Truth, The Day After Tomorrow - The dawn of the day after, 2022: the survivors or Erin Brockovich - Strong as the truth. If there are children present, you could also add WALL-E or FernGully - The Adventures of Zak and Crysta to the list.
If you plan ahead, you could join a bigger festival like CinemAmbiente
Step 3. Organize an arts and crafts exhibition focusing on the theme of sustainability
Seeing where the products we use come from and understanding how they are made is important for having a minor impact on the environment. Invite local artists and artisans who make their products sustainably.
For example, invite artists who use recycled materials in their projects or knitters who use eco-friendly yarns to create clothes and other items
Step 4. Organize a poetry reading to hear other people's views on the environment
You could organize reading in a club or bookstore to create a corner where people can share their opinions, concerns and hopes about the environment. An event like this also helps connect people through a love of nature. Choose poets or poems that focus on environmental issues, such as ecopoetry.
- You could also include lectures or plays.
- You can choose to read poems like Walt Whitman's Poetry Will Save the World or Bertolt Brecht's Spring Is No More.
Step 5. Organize a concert and raise money for an environmental NGO
It is a fun way to bring people together for a good cause. Invite local bands to play in an outdoor venue. You may even find musicians who use recycled materials for their instruments or others whose songs focus on nature or environmental issues.
- You could charge an entrance ticket and donate the proceeds to an environmental cause, such as the rescue of an endangered species. Alternatively, you can set up a donation box so that people can leave an offer.
- If you don't want to charge a ticket, you could ask people to bring bottles to recycle or attend a neighborhood cleanup if they want to attend the concert.
- You could play recordings or ask bands to cover songs like "Mother Nature's Son" by The Beatles or "Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer.
Step 6. Plant trees to increase the amount of oxygen in the air
Trees are our number 1 allies for the environment, as they convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. Gather a group of people and plan a day to plant trees in your community. Get permission from City Council before planting in public places, such as parks, or choose to only do it in private yards, such as yours, your neighbors or friends.
Step 7. Organize a neighborhood cleanup to make it look better
Activate your neighbors to help you clean up the area you live in. It is also a great activity to do with children. Collect litter, uproot weeds, or perform minor repairs to nearby fences or buildings.
Step 8. Organize a nature treasure hunt to get in touch with the world around you
Invite adults and children from your neighborhood to join a nature treasure hunt. Make a list of objects to find, for example: a yellow flower, a green leaf, a ladybug, a feather, a smooth rock, a blade of grass, a round cloud, something blue, etc. Consider handing out prizes to winners, such as an eco-friendly cotton bag.
Step 9. Increase ecological awareness within your community
Set up a booth in front of your local library or grocery store after obtaining the relevant permit. Talk to people about environmental issues, distribute brochures or information kits. It can be a great way to educate others on important environmental issues.
Method 3 of 3: Taking Actions to Safeguard the Environment
Step 1. Adopt an ecological and sustainable lifestyle
Take an inventory of your energy impact, your consumption habits, and your use of unsustainable products, then make a list of the ways you intend to curb your unsustainable activities and habits by replacing them with greener ones. Establish a time schedule to respect, with changes increasingly important as you go.
For example, you could eat meatless meals twice a week. You may also decide to turn off lights and electronics when you're not using them. Another idea is to commit to walking as often as possible when commuting to work or shopping
Step 2. Choose to buy sustainable, organic or fair trade products
Read the labels of origin and manufacture of the products you buy to see if you can make better choices. Find out if these products are certified as sustainable, organic, locally produced or fair trade. There are many things a label can tell you if you choose to read it.
- Sustainable products include those obtained in a sustainable way, for example those certified FSC are created from forests managed in a careful and ecological way.
- Organic products cause much less damage to the environment than non-organic products, that is, originating from raw materials (such as cotton) grown in the traditional way.
- Locally manufactured products reduce the impact on the environment because they are transported fewer kilometers to reach the consumer.
- Fair trade products are ethically made and take into account indigenous peoples, as well as the environmental resources of the areas in which they are created.
- If you can't find a label, email the company or post a message on their Facebook page, or write to the retailer or manufacturer responsible for the product. Facebook is a great method because many other people will see your question and wait for the answer!
Step 3. Use public transport to reduce your environmental impact
Choose to take advantage of public transport more often than you already do to reduce the amount of harmful emissions introduced into the environment. Car pooling is also a great way to reduce pollution. You can also cycle or walk to nearby destinations.
Step 4. Take part in a conservation, restoration or ecovillage project
World Environment Day is perfect for signing up and connecting with people who are busy and don't just talk or read. Sign up to help restore an old building in town or join a local water saving group.
Step 5. Plan your garden to start growing your own food
If you have a yard or garden that you don't use, make a plan for planting fruit, vegetables and herbs for your own use or even flowers that are suitable for bees. Growing your own food helps reduce the impact on the environment. Things you can do to make the most of your garden include:
- Compost food waste. Use compost to fertilize plants.
- Devote part of the garden to the vegetable garden and plant seasonal crops. Those with only a balcony or a small piece of land can still grow something, such as potatoes in a bag or sprouts on the windowsill. You could also participate in a shared garden project.
- Grow Herbs and Spices - They add flavor to your food, look great, and bring medicinal, beauty, healing, spiritual or other benefits. Borrow a book from the library and learn about the use of herbs and spices. These plants don't need a lot of space and can even be grown on a windowsill or balcony.
- Encourage beneficial and friendly wildlife in your garden through careful plant selection and shelter creation.
- Learn to make garden sprays that are toxic to insects and molds but not to people and pets!
Step 6. Reject, reduce, reuse and recycle
Refuse to buy unsustainable products, reduce consumption, reuse objects and materials at home and recycle everything you can. All that mess has to go somewhere, so you decide not to bring it into the house, to begin with, and if it has to go, make good choices as to where it will go!
