How to help the planet beyond Earth Day 2022: 5 concrete ways to make a difference UK News

Helping the planet may seem like a Herculean effort, but it’s not beyond our reach.

And if support for Earth Day (April 22) is a measure of commitment to the task at hand, then the momentum seems to be strong.

EARTHDAY.ORG claims its mission is to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.

It claims to be the world’s largest recruiter for the environmental movement, working with more than 150,000 partners in nearly 192 countries to build environmental democracy.

This year, Earth Day’s Tom Cosgrove collaborated with Mart Drake-Knight, co-founder of UK-based company Teemill, to share the top five practical ways to make a difference not just on the day, but throughout the day. ‘year.

Here’s how to support this year’s theme “Investing in our planet”:

1 Calculate your plastic pollution

We may have become more mindful of our use of plastic and are making sure to reduce, reuse and recycle where possible, but do you know where you really stand when it comes to your use of plastic?

In line with investing in our planet, the second thing to consider is investing in trees. It can be hard to feel like we’re making a change around the world, but thanks to The Canopy Project, Earth Day has planted tens of millions of trees through donations.

You can see where the trees are planted on its reforestation map (https://www.earthday.org/campaign/the-canopy-project/) and find out how you can donate. Funds raised through donations can help reforest areas in need of rehabilitation to strengthen and support local communities as well as our planet.

It’s time to think about what you put in your wardrobe.

This year, Earth Day organizers have teamed up with British company Teemill to create a range of sustainable, circular t-shirts, the proceeds of which support the movement.

“Most fashion products are made on a mass production conveyor belt for mass consumption which results in massive amounts of waste,” said Mart Drake-Knight, co-founder of Teemill.

“If pollution is not quantified, there are no consequences, and therefore consumers today have only one choice: linear consumption and waste. For real change, we must change this model and operate with a circular process.

“In a circular process, products are designed from the start to come back and be remade. This means that the materials go back to the manufacturer and the new product is remade from the old product. It’s different from recycling or upcycling, where the material is turned into something different before being thrown away.

“Forty percent of all production in the fashion industry is never even used because it is produced speculatively. The solution is simple: we have to produce what people need, when they need it. Changing the design to mass production scale eliminates massive amounts of waste.

4 Check your ‘foodprint’

Choose your food wisely. These are calculators ready again because by using a handy “foodprint” calculator (https://www.earthday.org/foodprints-calculators/) you can find out how to invest in more sustainable food options, whether using more organic ingredients or consider plant-based alternatives.

Food production is responsible for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, with consumption of meat and dairy products in the West mainly fueling global warming, so it has never been more timely to think about what is is in your fridge.

5 Become a citizen scientist

Looking for ways to use your free time to make a change? To advance environmental research, you can become a citizen scientist and report on environmental concerns such as plastics, air quality, insects, climate, food safety and water quality in your region to help promote better environmental policies as part of the Global Earth Challenge.

For example, to better understand plastic pollution, you can help identify the sources of pollution near you and the areas most affected by it.

For five easy ways to reduce e-waste, visit: