How and why you should get involved in Earth Hour 2018

This week, you have the opportunity – placed right in front of you, on a silver platter, without even moving from your comfortable spot on the lounge – to make a difference for our earth.

Earth Hour is set to take place between 8.30-9.30pm (local time) this Saturday, March 24.

If you haven’t heard of Earth Hour before, it is an initiative set up by the WWF. The first ever Earth Hour occurred in Sydney in 2007, and spread around the world in the following years.

From the Earth Hour website:

Hundreds of millions of people around the planet take part in WWF’s Earth Hour every year. Last year around 9 million took part in the UK alone.

People do a wide range of things around the hour to show they care about our planet’s future. Millions choose to mark Earth Hour by going ‘lights out’ for 60 minutes at 8.30pm – a symbolic show of solidarity for the planet.

The world’s biggest landmarks – like Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, and Edinburgh Castle – switch off lights as a visual display of their commitment too.

I think we can all agree (excluding the deluded climate change deniers who deserve a special kind of sympathy and contempt) that climate change and other environmental issues are among the gravest issues facing the world right now.

Our world is at stake.

Forests are being destroyed at alarming rates. Animals are dying out fast. We’re facing the loss of the land we can grow our food on. We’re continually being threatened by environmental disasters, like storms and hurricanes like we’ve never seen before.

And what are we doing, as the one human species, to stop it?

Collectively: Not much. Not enough. No way near enough.

As individuals, some are stepping up to the plate and making changes in their own lives to create a ripple effect – to do what they can to help the problem, whether those are big changes or small changes.

One by one, the number of awesome people taking things into their own hands and making small changes to make a big impact is growing.

And that, my friends, is how a collective shift begins – each person, working bit by bit to make a difference.

That is how we are going to go from doing “not much” as one human species for our earth to “enough” or “a lot”.

It’s what we NEED to do to survive. It’s what we NEED to do to make sure our earth will still be here, in any way, shape or form, for our children’s children’s children to live on.

The threat is dire, and I really don’t think many people realise the weight of this threat and what it really means for us.

I believe if people did REALLY understand it, they would make a change. They would help create a solution.

How could someone realise the gravity of the issue and still continue to do nothing?

I can’t understand that.

So I guess I choose to believe that the majority of people are simply not aware of the issue.

That’s easier for me to believe than the idea that people do know, that they do understand, and just choose to do nothing.

Maybe I’m just ignorant to the crushing ambivalence of the world.

That’s also a possibility.

But with Earth Hour upon us, I want to take this time to discuss with you how you can use Earth Hour to kick-start some changes in your life to help our planet.

According to the WWF-UK Living Planet Report, over the last 25 – 30 years:

• 80% of freshwater species have declined
• Over 50% of populations of land species have declined
• 40% of our forests have disappeared to agricultural land with 15 million trees lost each year just for soy production
• 1 in 6 of the planet’s species are at risk of extinction from climate change

If that isn’t supremely scary to you, I would argue that you may possibly be a psychopath with no empathy or emotions.

However, if that does strike some fear in your heart, please, I beg you, DO SOMETHING!

Make some changes in your life this Earth Hour and help be part of the collective shift in the world to save our planet.

It’s not hard. It just takes some feeling, perseverance and moral strength.

If you believe we need to be doing more for our planet, match your actions with those beliefs.

Here are 7 ways you can do just that:

1. Get educated on the issue. This is an obvious, but crucial, first step. If you learn about what the problems actually are in relation to the environmental threat facing us, you’re more likely to commit to specific changes in your lifestyle because you directly understand how they link to the problem and make a positive impact. I suggest watching documentaries such as A Plastic Ocean, Trashed, Cowspiracy, and The True Cost, as well as “classics” such as An Inconvenient Truth (and An Inconvenient Sequel, which I personally haven’t seen yet but feel I must mention). In addition, books such as This Changes Everything by Naomi Kline, Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson, and Plastic-Free by Beth Terry. There are also so many amazing bloggers and YouTubers, like Lauren Singer of Trash Is For Tossers, out there sharing information and tips relating to environmental issues and how we can each make a difference in our own lifestyles.
2. Reduce your plastic consumption and waste. This includes everything from recycling smarter, to buying groceries and clothing in a different way, to switching up your makeup and bathroom products and more. It’s easier than it sounds – believe me! See my blog post sharing tips to help you move towards a zero-waste lifestyle here.
3. Get involved in organisations working towards a healthier earth, like Take 3 for the Sea. Support their campaigns, sign their petitions, and help grow a positive change.

   

4. Change to an eco friendly search engine. A weird one, but why not? I switched my default search engine from Google to Ecosia, which plants a tree for approximately every 45 searches you do.
5. Avoid Palm Oil. The palm oil industry is linked to major issues such as deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty and indigenous rights abuses. I’m sure you’ve seen those posters with sad photos of orangutans who are facing extinction due to the palm oil industry. There’s a great list here with provides all the alternative names Palm Oil may be given on an ingredient list, so you can make sure you’re avoiding it completely.
6. Eat less meat. It’s becoming fairly well known that the animal agriculture industry is unsustainable, and high in greenhouse gas emissions and water wastage, among a variety of other issues, including health. A vegan or vegetarian diet can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 70% and 63%, respectively, research published in journal PNAS stated. Check out this great resource for more information.
7. Switch the renewable and sustainable energy. If you own your own house (Which I do not – yet), switch your energy provider from a coal-based one to a renewable-based one. There’s some great information here on how to make the switch.

I hope this has given you some inspiration on how to make a positive impact on our world this Earth Hour.

Now, go forth, make a difference, and spread that inspiration!