Earth Day 2021
What is Earth day?
Earth day is celebrated on 22nd of April each year. It is an annual event which is dedicated to raising awareness about the environmental challenges that face the Earth. It forms a part of Earth week which is a weeklong period full of activities and campaigns.
History of Earth day
It is thought that the original idea of Earth day started in 1969 during the Santa Barbara oil spill. American senator Gaylord Nelson flew over the disaster in an airplane and was incredibly shocked by the scale of the event that he decided to create a Day to help prevent future cases.
The first Earth day was held in 1970 and saw millions of people around the world taking to the streets with the desire to make a stand for environmental change. This is seen as the start of modern day environmental activism.
Since then, more and more people have joined the cause and celebrate Earth day each year. One of the biggest achievements was in 2016 when the Paris Agreement came into force, ensuring increased environmental protection for the majority of countries across the world.
Celebrating Earth day
We are having a hugely negative impact on the environment by the way we purchase and use products in our daily lives. Businesses are also responsible for a huge amount of harm to the planet.
As a company who are passionate about the environment and reducing the impact we have, we are celebrating Earth day by giving you tips on how you can help the planet, both individually and as a business.
We think it’s incredibly important that businesses start to take responsibility for their impact on the environment. There are various things we can do to contribute, and it’s ok to start small. All the small changes add up!
Reduce your carbon footprint
There are many ways you can reduce your carbon footprint as a business. Implementing simple systems in the workplace such as car sharing can make a huge difference. Other simple actions include switching off lights when rooms are empty and turning off any equipment that is not being used. Turn off your PC at the end of the day. It’s that simple.
Recycle
This can apply to various aspects of a business. From recycling any product waste to office waste (e.g paper) and packaging to using recycled materials to make new products! These are simple swaps but again, can have a big impact. You can also apply this to other areas, for example, office equipment and more specifically IT equipment. When your business is having an IT upgrade and you are getting rid of old equipment, what do you normally do with the old kit? One thing you could do is sell it on to a company who can refurbish it for resale. This way, you could get money for the products, and the equipment will be treated so can be reused by another company who need it.
Reuse
Reuse products and materials whenever you can. Try and reduce waste as much as possible. Again this can apply to areas such as IT. Whenever your business is upgrading IT equipment, or any other equipment for that matter, why not buy refurbished? This way, you are reusing products which is helping them extend their life cycle. This will help reduce negative effects on the Earth from mining raw materials.
Conclusion
Earth day is a great cause that we should all get behind, but should it only be once a year? It’s easy to start making changes to make every day an Earth day. Keeping our planet safe means keeping ourselves safe. As a business, we are responsible for doing our bit. If you want to work towards being a more environmentally friendly business, and want to do that through responsible IT disposal, get in touch with us. We will help you get rid of redundant kit in an environmentally friendly way that will benefit both the planet and your business.
