Earth Day is a global day of action that takes place annually on 22 April. It provides a guiding theme for a wide range of activities related to environmental and climate protection. It aims to serve as inspiration for individual people to initiate and permanently implement a personal environmental agenda. by doing things such as engaging in environmental projects. The organisers of Earth Day want to highlight the many small opportunities for environmental protection that every single person has in everyday life.
The event originated in 1970 as a spontaneous student movement in the USA. It was intended to demonstrate to the Washington establishment and the public that there is an environmental movement in North America and that nature has a strong lobby now and in the future.
The motto of Earth Day is: “Who says you can’t change the world?”
As well as political issues, it is primarily about the small (and large) decisions and actions in normal everyday life.
Earth Day worldwide and in Germany
Since the seventies, the Earth Day concept has spread more and more into governmental environmental policy in Canada and many other countries. According to the German Earth Day website, the 25th Earth Day was celebrated by over 200 million people worldwide on 22 April 1995.
On 22 April 1997, a German Earth Day was organised for the first time, Earth Day Stuttgart. Today Earth Day is celebrated in more than 150 countries. The aim of the global campaign is to engage citizens and especially young people in a creative environmental project.
Earth Day International Deutsches Komitee e.V. regards its own tasks and goals as education, dialogue and initiative (EDI).
- Education because environmentally conscious behaviour is not predetermined for people, but has to be learned.
- Dialogue because the ongoing destruction of the environment requires global rethinking and cannot be delayed. “Take a seat at the table!”
- Initiative is shown by the association through its persistent work “as a lobbyist for the environment”.
The Earth Days provide support, networking and media exposure for the many environmental initiatives locally. The event will also take place in Germany in 2022. This year’s Earth day motto is:
“You are what you wear: sustainable, organic & fairtrade looks better on you and the planet.”
It’s about creating awareness about the fact that we are not just wearing trends & statements, but there is a big supply chain behind every single garment. Plants, animals, agriculture, factories and, last but not least, countless people – and they all deserve a considerate, fair and resource-conserving approach.
What can we do to live sustainably?
In keeping with the motto of Earth Day 2022, we at Alpinetrek are getting into shape:
Our shop has had the filter category “Sustainability” for a long time. This allows you to find excellent, sustainable products with just a few clicks. These include, for example, the “Fair Trade” certified Retro Pile Jacket by Patagonia and many hundreds of other products. And, the best thing is: there are more and more and our filters are getting better and better.
If you are looking for small ideas for everyday life away from online shopping, the Earth Day website provides you with lots of practical suggestions.
It starts with well-known steps such as buying regional and organic food that is not transported long distances. You can save money by only buying food that you really need and that you use up completely so that it doesn’t end up being thrown away.
Other tips include buying “refurbished” and second-hand products more often and repairing things. This can be done with repair cafés or campaigns such as the Patagonia Worn Wear Program. This is where you can simply hand in broken clothes from any brand and have them repaired by experts so that you can continue to wear them again. Without waste and without buying new. In our blog you will also find valuable tips for upgrading or repairing clothing or equipment. So, for example:
Passing on, selling and giving away things that are no longer used is also important.
What are the benefits of initiatives like Earth Day?
Whatever you can do towards environmental protection will have a positive impact. Even if I just mended one jacket instead of throwing it away, the impact on the global environment is greater than zero. Every little bit helps is appropriate here. Action days and commitments always make a difference. Even if it’s impossible to get an accurate evaluation of most of the measures. The numbers of participants in events such as Earth Day give a rough idea of the impact.
In any case, Earth Day was an early generator of awareness for things that are on everyone’s lips today: Sustainability and conscious consumption with a sense of perspective.
Strong together!
Effective climate protection requires close cooperation between society, the economy and politics. As pioneers, we at Alpinetrek are trying to show that economic growth can also be achieved without cost to the environment. Transparency is particularly important to us.
That is why we have introduced our Climate Report on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. This is where our CEO Matthias Gebhard reports every month on what we have done to get one step closer to our climate goals. And motivates others to join in!
A big point, which we also mentioned above, is politics. To achieve great things, great things must be moved. And I’m sure most people would agree that in order to achieve this, we need to change the legal environment.
This is precisely the subject to which the GermanZero team is committed. The association’s goal is “to create a climate-safe and liveable future for us and future generations”. They do this through campaigns such as “Climate protection made in Germany”.
The campaign proposes a bill with solutions to reach the 1.5 degree target. We have supported GermanZero in this campaign since last year. You can read what our CEO Matthias Gebhard thinks about “climate-neutral industry” on the GermanZero website.
Earth Overshoot Day
The idea of Earth Day is continued with Earth Overshoot Day. Earth Overshoot Day occurs on the day in the year when human consumption of renewable resources is greater than the Earth’s supply and capacity to reproduce those resources in that year. Earth Overshoot Day is also intended as a day of action. More about this will be available here soon in another article.
