Challengers Commit to the Health of People and Planet
On April 22, we celebrate the planet we live on. We make a commitment to be and do better. In the face of climate change and environmental turmoil, Earth Day is more important than ever. 2020 tied 2016 to be the warmest year on record, with the rising heat set to continue. Paired with COVID-19, which both demonstrated our interconnectedness and highlighted glaring issues when it comes to sustainability, Earth Day offers a time for all of us to reflect on our individual and collective impact and introduce changes that set the tone for a better future.
Below are five things you can start doing today to help us reach it.
Invest in brands that truly care
As both a consumer and employee, you typically have the luxury of choice. Whether you’re investing in a product or service to fulfil a certain job or embarking on a career change, deciding where you place your trust and time matters. Align yourself with brands who go beyond talk to action, and introduce initiatives that fuel change. Our client Fruitstand is one example. They’re on a mission to create the world’s largest online farmer’s market by bringing hand-picked produce from local farmers straight to kitchen tables. Because the fruit is fresh, organic and ethically grown you’ll receive the produce as intended, with no two pieces looking the same.
Change the way you do business
If you’re a founder or business leader, look at ways you can think like a Challenger and introduce initiatives within the workplace. It’s that very thinking that led to the founding of 5&Vine when our founder Rahul Raj worked as Walmart.com’s Director of Sustainability, introducing a revolutionary program that diverted millions of pounds of electronics from landfill. Since then we’ve worked with Mama Earth Organics, a brand delivering products in reusable bins they pick up each week to fuel a sustainable cycle and Village Juicery, a brand sanitizing and reusing their glass bottles and composting their waste to deliver on a zero-waste promise.
Educate yourself
This year, there are countless free digital events you can attend to be better informed. NASA’s Virtual Earth Day Event is just one that includes live discussions with astronauts living and working in space, webinars with climate change experts, and interactive science content that guides you through the connections that exist between the Earth’s atmosphere, water, forests, cities and ice caps. President Biden has also invited 40 world leaders to a Leaders Summit on Climate which will be available to watch via live-stream.
Advocate and volunteer
There are plenty of ways you can demand change to local and national government or help organizations working to shift perspectives. You could start by signing Earth Day’s petition, launched in 2020 as a grassroots and official effort to ensure students receive compulsory climate and environment education. You could also join the Great Global Cleanup in the fight against 79% of produced plastics that end up in natural environments and landfill.
Commit to making small changes for big impact
There are changes we can all make in our daily lives to better the planet. They might seem small but what’s important is they’re realistic and amount to bigger shifts. This can include changes to your diet, like joining the Meatless Mondays movement, pledging to use a reusable grocery bag, avoiding single-use plastics, or using an ecobee smart thermostat to help you conserve energy in your home. The key is to make a commitment and introduce them so fully into your life that they become routine.
