Pictured myself (Amy) and Bee (left) at The Giraffe Centre in Nairobi, a sanctuary for endangered animals. Read more about why giraffes are now on the endangered species list and what we can do to help protect them here.
Nearly approaching its’ 50th anniversary, the first Earth Day took place on April 22nd, 1970, when millions marched in the United States to protest the negative impacts of industrial development, such as smog and declining biodiversity. This march lead to the creation, under the Nixon administration, of the Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.
The event has continued since and still takes place each year on the 22nd of April. The theme of 2019’s Earth Day is 'Protect Our Species'.
"Nature’s gifts to our planet are the millions of species that we know and love, and many more that remain to be discovered. Unfortunately, human beings have irrevocably upset the balance of nature and, as a result, the world is facing the greatest rate of extinction since we lost the dinosaurs more than 60 million years ago. But unlike the fate of the dinosaurs, the rapid extinction of species in our world today is the result of human activity." https://www.earthday.org
The campaign is expected to reach 1 billion people in 192 countries. The 'Protect Our Species' campaign hopes to centre the conversation around the rapid extension of vulnerable species, including bees, coral reefs, elephants, giraffes, and many more. Overall, Earth Day’s purpose is to raise awareness and to encourage progressive, as well as preventative, individual and political actions.
Some encouraged actions this Earth Day and beyond include:
- Adopting to a plant based diet or eating less meat
- Planting a tree
- Stopping the use of pesticides and herbicides
- Conserving energy and resources
- Voting for environmentally-committed leaders
During our travels designing and sourcing for Artisans & Adventurers we've seen first hand the damage that bad practice within our industry is doing to the environment. We only work with socially and environmentally accredited factories and recently switched to brown paper and recyclable tape to post out all of our online orders making our packaging plastic free and fully recyclable.
For more information and to find Earth Day Events near you, please visit https://www.earthday.org/campaigns/endangered-species/earthday2019/