Apr 22 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and this year, there are two crises: the COVID-19 pandemic and the slowly building disaster for our climate.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19 countries around the world are enforcing social distancing, and while we can’t physically participate in group events to show our support, we live in the digital age where social media keeps us connected with the world right from our fingertips.
Here in Beijing, the founders of WellWomen invite you to join the “S.A.V.E the Earth” Earth Day challenge by completing four simple tasks.
1. SPEAK UP:
What are you fighting for — it could be for your children, for frontline communities, for safe water to drink. What compels you to act, and why are you in this fight?
Add your voice to this global demand for action with the shared hashtag #EarthDay2020 on social media.
Take action: Share Earth Day 2020 graphics, share what you’re doing or talk about the environmental cause you care about on social media.
2. ACT:
Everyone can do something. Join us on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day — Apr 22. Earthday.org will issue 24 actions for the planet that you can take now, wherever you are. Here are a few suggestions from our WellWomen collective.
Take action:
- Order a drink with no straw
- If you don’t have a reusable drink bottle, then buy one today; or if you have one go for a walk and take a photo of yourself using it
- Order/use reusable produce bags (or take a photo of you buying your groceries not using plastic bags)
- Go for a picnic using Zero Waste snacks for kids
- Repair something
- Go for a walk and pick up a bag of rubbish
3. VOTE:
Vote with your wallet. Think twice about consuming for the sake of consuming. When you are spending money, think about the people who made your goods and the environmental and social impact of your decision. Can you use a second-hand item? Do you really need it? Can you support local businesses and designers instead of the giants offering goods at low prices at the expense of our planet?
Take action: Spend your money buying something that will help you reduce your waste – a re-useable bottle, straw, produce bags if you don’t have these already. Buy produce in a Zero Waste way, visit a market and take your own bags or don’t use any bags at all.
4. EDUCATE:
The world’s first Earth Day in 1970 seized the power of education through campus-wide teach-ins to spark conversation, engage local communities and inform change. Today we can do the same thing digitally. Check out earthday.org.
Take action: We need you to share your knowledge and wisdom as well. Share an article on your social media that will educate others or educate yourself by watching a documentary on the climate situation.
- True North (2018)
- An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
- Before the Flood (2016)
- Years of Living Dangerously (2016)
- 11th Hour (2007)
- Chasing Ice (2012)
- A Beautiful Planet (2016)
- This Changes Everything
- Six Degrees Could Change the World
To take part in the WellWomen “S.A.V.E the Earth” challenge:
- Join the Well Planet WeChat group by scanning the QR code on the poster, or by adding WeChat ID: becstarnz.
- Add your name to the list of challengers, take a photo of yourself doing the four S.A.V.E action steps sometime between Apr 21-24, post them in the WeChat group to show us you did them.
- Write a brief reflection on your journey to be in the draw to win a Zero Waste Starter Kit: three produce bags, one wooden dish brush, and a stainless steel straw.
Source: WellWomen, www.earthday.org
Photos: WellWomen, unsplash
