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Today marks the 51st anniversary of Earth Day. The first one took place in 1970 when millions of people held mass demonstrations across America demanding environmental justice. It drew attention to issues and put social pressure on new legislation that would improve our physical environment.
Somewhere along the way, we watered down the intention and activism of the day. When I was a child at school we celebrated by planting a tree and talking about the importance of Earth. But those people who took to the streets to demand change did not intend for Earth Day to be a day of celebration — at least not until the environmental justice they sought was achieved. And in hindsight, my tree planting seems rather feeble when we consider what it will actually take to make a difference.
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There’s nothing wrong with planting a tree. A world with more trees will never be a bad thing and for some regions it is a huge piece of the puzzle. There’s nothing wrong with saying ‘Happy Earth Day’ because instilling appreciation of our planet is important and can help create new generations of activists. But there’s always more we can do.
The question is, where do we start and how? To identify what you can do to drive the biggest impact you must become more aware. Awareness and learning go hand-in-hand and often trigger one another in a cycle of growth.
In this blog, we’re sharing a few resources to get the cycle going so that one day April 22nd can cease being a day of activism and become a day of celebration — a celebration of our saved planet.
Save the Earth by Learning About It
Below are a few resources that can broaden your awareness and ability to take action:
How to Save Our Planet — The Facts
This is an online course led by Earth System Scientist, Mark Maslin and hosted by How to Academy.
Mark acknowledges that we are capable of saving the planet but that it is politics and policies which hold us back from doing so. In this one hour course, he will walk you through what our future looks like if we act and if we do not as well as what we all can do individually and collectively to create those futures.
View on How to Academy for non-users
Sustainability Literacy Crash Course
This a great series of videos for anyone wanting to better understand sustainability. It was created by Slow Factory Foundation in order to help people work with the planet instead of against it.
The aim of sustainability is to improve our existing processes but we can only do so if we understand the ecological and social ecosystems that we exist in.
If you’ve ever wanted to get to the bottom of how people can be more sustainable in a myriad of ways stretching from fashion to power then give this a watch.
View on Learnerbly for users
View on Slow Factory Foundation for non-users
How Are We Going to Explain This?: Our Future on a Hot Earth
Jelmer Mommers book, ‘How are we going to explain this?: Our future on a hot earth’ even considers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on climate change. It leans on the most recent climate science to paint a picture of where we are and where we’re going with insights on how you can make the difference.
View on Learnerbly for users
View on Amazon UK for non-users
Shado Issue 03: Climate Justice
Climate change is a threat to human existence but that threat is disproportionate in the speed with which it affects certain groups of people making it a human rights issue. In this magazine, Shado aims to shine a light on the actions of activists who don’t get spotlighted in Western press and places them as the most suited to advocate for change as the ones most subjected to climate injustice.
View on Learnerbly for users
View on Shado-mag for non-users
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