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General & Community
• Find out more about protecting the environment. • Wear a green ribbon. • Wear green clothing. • Organise a community or school clean-up (liaise with your local municipality in advance to arrange for collection if there are a lot of extra bags). • Make a donation to an environmental or conservation organisation. • Plant a tree or indigenous plants. • Take a walk in an environmentally friendly area and enjoy being outdoors • Organise a hike with friends. • Set green goals for yourself. • Pledge to make a greening difference in your home, school or office. • Commit to only eating seafood from the Green List • Create an email that you send to friends and colleagues informing them of your commitment and encourage them to do so to. • Clean out the storm water drain in your street (litter is a huge problem that gets into storm water drains). Home • Select a number of steps you can take in your home to save resources. • Commit for a week then a month and then long term. Changing habits always takes an initial adjustment but then they become a way of life. • Select ways to reduce your electricity consumption. - Explore the option of a solar water heater - Turn off plugs at the switch when not in use; - Replace your lightbulbs with energy efficient bulbs • Select ways to reduce your water consumption. - Explore putting a water tank in your garden or flow regulators in your taps; - turn off the taps when brushing; - put used water into the garden; - use a low-flow shower head. • Be aware of your waste - How much stuff do you throw away; how much can be recycled - How much food is wasted (see food saving suggestions) - Commit to setting up a recycling programme at home or the office. • Prepare a vegetarian/vegan meal. • Prepare meals using organic foods. • Prepare only enough food so nothing goes to waste • Select products with less packaging, and buy local. • If you are planning on building or doing a renovation, then build an environmentally friendly house or kitchen or bathroom. Work • Educate your staff on the benefits of going green - both for the company and for each individual. More information. • Set up a green team within your office • Create a communal "pledge board" where people can write their environmental pledge for the year e.g."I will turn off the lights when I leave the room", "I will turn off the water while shaving or brushing my teeth". • Work out ways to save electricity - such as installing timers to automatically turn lights off. • Work out ways to save water. • Define office greening goals. • Set goals to save resources. • Ensure the goals are actualised. • Incentivise lift schemes to work - like reduced parking costs. • Take the environment, and not only price, into account when purchasing office supplies. • Commit to purchase from companies that have sound environmental policies and principles. • Offset your carbon footprint. • Avoid unnecessary printing of emails and other documents. • Add a message to your emails. Please feel free to copy the one below. School • Create an Earth Day or environmental awareness poster with your class or your children. • Each learner can write down a way to protect Planet Earth. Give class lists of suggestions to the Principal to read a daily green thought at assembly going forward. • Bring a healthy lunch to school - in a reusable container. • Healthy snacks and food to be served from the tuckshop. • Paint a mural at a school or community centre to encourage environmental awareness. • Create Designer Grocery Bags - Ask your local grocery store for a bundle of bags for you to decorate with greening or Earth day messages. - Return these to the store a day or two before Earth Day (22 April 2009) - These can then be sold or given to customers when shopping on Earth Day. • Write an Earth Day article for your local newspaper, or for your business/community newsletter. • Create a school or community food garden. • Turn off computer monitors between uses. • Turn off computers at the end of the day. • Set up a green monitors to check that lights and computers are off when not in use/or end of day. • Change the lightbulbs to energy saving bulbs. • Arrange with your neighbours to walk or bike to school. • Set up a litter awareness campaign. • Start a Roots and Shoots Club at your school. • Teachers can include environmental topics and themes in their lessons. • Organise Earth Day events at the school. • Monitor the amount of waste created in one day, and how much can be recycled. • Launch a recycling programme at your school. • Find out if toxic chemicals and pesticides are used at the school. • Set up a school recycling programme. |
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On April 22, people of all nationalities and backgrounds will voice their appreciation for the planet
and demand its protection. Together we will stand united for a sustainable future and call upon individuals, organizations, and governments to do their part. Create or attend a local Earth Day event. Join one of the Earth Day campaigns and be part of A Billion Acts of Green®. Elevate the importance of environmental issues around the world. Do what's necessary to bring about change. YOU can make a difference. |
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Earth Day
Earth Day A Billion Acts of Green Pledge Your Commitment Environmental Issues Footprint Calculator Video Ideas for recognising Earth Day General & Community Home Work School .................................................... Political Parties Policies .................................................... Campaigns .................................................... Home .................................................... Reduce .................................................... Reuse .................................................... About Greenworks .................................................... Recycle .................................................... Respect & Responsibility .................................................... Global Warming .................................................... Green Tip of the Week .................................................... Watch Your Waste .................................................... Compost .................................................... Get SASSI .................................................... Litter .................................................... Products .................................................... Contact Us .................................................... Daily Checklist .................................................... Your Carbon Footprint .................................................... Environmental Calendar .................................................... Office Greening .................................................... Landfills .................................................... Plant a Tree for Life .................................................... Campaigns .................................................... Earth Hour .................................................... Earth Day .................................................... World Environment Day .................................................... World Ocean Day .................................................... Arbor Day .................................................... Christmas .................................................... |
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Here are ideas for celebrating and honouring Earth Day.
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MAKE EVERY DAY EARTH DAY
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Celebrate Life. Celebrate Earth Day.
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School
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PLEDGE YOUR COMMITMENT
Follow the Link to register your pledge DO AT LEAST ONE ACT OF GREEN IN HONOUR OF EARTH DAY |
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Environmental problems will not go away if we ignore them.
Every year on April 22 more than one billion people take part in Earth Day. Across the globe individuals, communities, organisations, and governments acknowledge the amazing planet we call home and engage in activities to help protect it. This year marks the 43rd Anniversary of Earth Day. Now more than ever, it is critical that we mobilise our communities to protect the Earth. Together • we need take action in our homes and communities to reduce our carbon footprint and recycle our waste; • we need to protect nature and the wildlife that inhabits it; • we need to unite our voices in a call for a sustainable future and demand action from our leaders; • we need to be the catalysts for change. Earth Day 2013 will serve as a launch pad for growing the environmental movement and inspiring communities to act. The movement will be comprised of individuals of every age from all corners of the Earth, and will remind the world why it is so important to protect the Earth. It is key to encourage our leaders and business people to put us on the path to sustainability and realise the importance of the green economy. But it is up to each one of us as individuals to take action and make our actions count, encouraging the powers that be to activate change. The first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life to speak out against the deterioration of the environment and demand change. As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency was created, the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts were passed, and the modern environmental movement was born. Today, more than 1 billion people in 192 countries participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. This year, in the face of global inaction on pressing environmental problems, we must harness that power. Earth Day call upon individuals, organisations, businesses and governments to act and demand that environmental issues become a top priority. |
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Earth Day is held yearly on 22 April to promote aware-
ness of and appreciation for Earth's environmental issues. It is an opportunity to celebrate Planet Earth. Earth Day is recognised around the world by people of all backgrounds regardless of race, gender, nationality or faith. It is an occasion for the world's citizens to commit to building a safer, healthier, cleaner, sustainable world. Earth Day is a global movement to highlight and address environmental issues. These are just some of the major environ- mental issues our Planet faces: • the greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change; • destructive energy sources versus sustainable alternate energy sources; • toxic waste and ways of effective, efficient responsible waste manag ement; • groundwater contamination, abuse of water resources, wetland destruction, and pollution of waterways and the oceans; • the impact of litter on our water resources and on ecosystems; • overfishing and unsustainable fishing of our seas and oceans; • destruction of rainforests; • expanding deserts. Because we humans caused the problems Earth now faces, it is our responsibility to find solutions. Earth Day is a platform to conscientise citizens on what we can do to make a difference and to encourage people to get involved and do something to make a difference. If we each do something the collective effort will make a big difference not only to South Africa but worldwide. The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970. It is believed that this was the start of the modern environmental movement. More on the history of Earth Day. |
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Work
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Home
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General &
Community |
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TAKE A STEP IN THE GREEN DIRECTION BECAUSE GOING GREEN WORKS!
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Earth Day
April 22, 2013 |