April 21, 2021, by sustainablenottingham
Take action for Earth Day
22 April 2021 is the 51st Earth Day, an event which began in 1970 and quickly became the birth of the environmental movement. With a focus on education and activism, Earth Day has grown and now mobilises 1 billion people worldwide to drive positive action for the planet.
There are events happening all across the world and the USA is also holding a climate summit for global leaders (more on that later).
Get involved
For Earth Day we can all make a difference by taking action for our planet. There are lots of things you can do. There are official Earth Day online events (and recordings) as well as 51 tips and ways to ‘Restore our Earth’.
At Nottingham, to mark the event we are focussing on a few of the day’s key themes and have several activities for you to get involved with. Complete these actions through our Green Rewards platform and you can earn Green Points as you go.
Green Rewards is our new online platform that rewards you for the sustainable actions you take every day. If you haven’t downloaded Green Rewards yet, sign up now: find out more here.
Shrink your Foodprint
Your ‘foodprint’ is the associated environmental impacts from the food you eat. From where and how it is grown, through to it ending up on your plate. (Not to be confused with Foodprint, Nottingham’s own social supermarket!)
The Earth Day website has lots of resources for you to calculate the size of your foodprint and tips for how to reduce it. Knowledge is power and there are lots of solutions to try. If you access this wealth of information through Green Rewards, you can earn 150 Green Points! It’s as easy as that.
Start plogging (picking up litter whilst jogging)
This is another way we can all make a big difference. Every piece of litter removed from the environment counts. That’s why Green Rewards has a regular litter picking activity where you are rewarded for picking up litter every week.
For Earth Day, the sustainability team have taken it a step further (pun intended) and joined up with UoN Sport to offer some walking and running challenges on the Moves+ app.
Opt into the litter picking activity on Green Rewards, AND commit to either walking or running whilst picking up said litter over 20-22 April.
There are prizes to be won so if you haven’t signed up to Moves+, now’s the time to check it out.
Citizen Science
If your phone still has space on it, and you want to download another app(!), you can become a citizen scientist.
The Global Earth Challenge asks members of the public to contribute to environmental research. Specifically, you can help to monitor insect populations, air quality, plastic pollution and food supply in your local area. All you need to do is take photos whilst your out and about.
The global climate
It’s no coincidence that President Biden will be holding a global Climate Summit on Earth Day where the US will reveal their revived plans for tackling climate change. This virtual meeting between world leaders aims to refocus international efforts to stem global warming and the climate crisis.
In advance of this meeting, Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed this week to bringing forward the UK’s carbon emission reduction targets by 15 years. Not only that but these new targets will now be enshrined into law. In doing so, the UK has set out it’s stand to lead the world in reducing CO2 levels and is hoping this will encourage other nations to increase their own actions ahead of climate talks at Cop26 in November in Glasgow.
This is all largely good news but ultimately the time for talk is over, it’s now time to act. These new commitments are promising, but Governments’ track records of meeting targets are poor and too much time has already been lost.
Whatever happens on the world stage, there are still plenty of actions you can take now to reduce your individual environmental impact. After all, it’s going to take more than policy and infrastructure changes to prevent catastrophic climate change. Everyone is needed to play their part and make fundamental changes to our behaviours and patterns of consumption. Green Rewards is full of ideas for action to get you started. Sign up today.
Let us know your tips for more sustainable living or tell us how the work you are undertaking is making a difference.
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