The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has invited people world over to celebrate the WED on 5th June with enthusiasm.
GUIDELINES ON WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY (5th June) CELEBRATION
Background:
The World Environment Day (WED) was established by United Nations General Assembly in 1972, to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. It is celebrated worldwide on 5th June, every year to raise awareness on environment and mobilise action for environment protection.
NSC’s Role:
In 1999, NSC, took initiative and decided to actively promote celebration of WED among its members and thus launched the WED Campaign. NSC is continuing the campaign for the 21st consecutive year and is providing promotional materials viz. Environment Day Badge, Cloth Banners, Posters & Environmental Information Package to its members. This is a unique service provided by NSC in the Country. We are happy that every year more than 500 member organizations including Municipal Corporations, Pollution Control Boards and Industries also utilize these promotional materials for celebration of WED.
Objectives:
The WED celebrations help an industry to –
- Demonstrate its commitment to environment protection
- Increase awareness on specific environmental issues relevant to the industry utilities and operations
- Undertake measures to minimise impact of their activities on the environment
Ways to celebrate WED:
It takes only a few simple steps to easily green your daily routine and make good eco-behavior into a habit! A list of ways to celebrate WED as suggested by UNEP are given below:
A
Act now. Make the decision to become more aware of issues related to food waste.
Adopt as many eco-friendly lifestyle choices as you can and make them habits for WED!
Add it up. Our impact is exponential when the global chorus sings together.
B
Buy locally! Flying food across continents increases global transportation emissions.
Bring a cloth bag to do all your grocery shopping. A reusable bag will last for years and only needs to be used 5 times to have a lower environmental impact than a plastic bag.
Bring a mug with you whenever you go for take-out beverages, so you avoid using paper cups.
C
Consume locally. You will help reduce the demand for cutting down forests in foreign countries to meet export demands.
Choose naturally grown foods. They have less of an environmental impact and are much healthier.
Compost your organic food waste.
D
Don’t buy more food than you really need.
Discover an alternative to using traditional wrapping paper for holidays and birthday gifts.
E
Engage in an environmental activity, like school or neighborhood beautification or tree planting.
Eat organic and locally grown foods and help reduce the clearing of forests for agricultural land.
Educate your friends on how individual actions can have an exponential impact and motivate action for WED.
F
Form a group of peers or colleagues to oversee the food waste at your school, neighborhood or workplace.
Form a tree-planting group with family and friends and commit to planting and maintaining these trees together.
G
Green your office: print double-sided, turn off monitors, start an office recycling program.
Grow an organic garden and your own delicious food.
Give seedlings as birthday gifts.
Go electronic for bills and payments: at home, in the office, at the bank etc.
H
Host a World Environment Day celebration.
Have a vegan (no animal products) dinner party!
I
Identify the nature that surrounds you — take note of the beautiful plants and animals that you may not always appreciate. Learn about the amazing ecosystem services they provide.
Improve the insulation of your home – it will really help your energy consumption…and your monthly bills!
J
Join a local environmental or conservation group. You can team up with those around you and make a real difference for your community.
Jog outside and save the energy you would have used on the treadmill!
K
Kick the habit! Don’t print unless it’s absolutely necessary. And when you do print – always print double-sided!
Keep your cup! When traveling on airplanes, ask to reuse your plastic cup.
L
Learn more about the environment impact of food production. Did you know that it takes 1,000 litres of water to produce 1 litre of milk?
M
More food in your pantry increases the risk of food going bad before you consume.
Mobilize your networks! Message your friends about WED — facebook, twitter, orkut, SMS, text, phone, email — it doesn’t matter how, just get the word out!
N
Notify your friends on how their action against food waste could have a huge impact. Even if just one-fourth of the food currently lost or wasted globally could be saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people in the world.
O
Optimize the use of your washing machine – use the cold-wash option and significantly save energy and reduce your daily carbon emissions.
Offset your travel whenever possible – most airlines provide an option to offset your travel when you book your tickets.
Opt for public transport whenever possible.
Order small food portions first. Better to add on than waste.
P
Plan in advance. Know what you will need before you go grocery shopping so not to end up buying more food than what will be consumed in your household.
Pile up! Lay the grounds for a compost pile and start sorting your garbage.
Q
Quantify how much money you could save each cold winter if you lowered the temperature inside your home by 2 degrees Celsius. It could reduce your energy consumption by 14 percent
R
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
Register a WED activity at www.unep.org/wed!
S
Sacrifice something small each month – eat locally grown vegetables instead of imported vegetables; do without steak as cattle ranching is high impact!; carpool with co-workers; take your bike to work etc.
Save! Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).
Support and motivate companies that use certified materials and operate in ways that are environmentally responsible.
Switch your light bulbs to energy-efficient LED’s. You will see substantial savings on energy bills!
T
Tell your friends about the enormous amounts of food waste we are creating. A third of global food production is either wasted or lost.
Think before you buy food. What is the environmental impact of your choice?
Think outside of the bottle! Bottled water costs 1900 times more than tap water
Tweet about #WED and spread food waste tips to the world!
U
Understand your options. Learn about the small ways you, as an individual, can make a positive impact on the environment.
Use rainwater for your indoor plants – they love it, and you’ll save water at the same time.
V
Visit the WED website regularly and see how you can get involved!
W
Waste not food! 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger.
X
X-plore the World Environment Day website. Find out more about food waste.
Y
You can make a difference – individual actions, when multiplied, can make an exponential difference to the planet!
Z
Zip around town on your bike, on public transport, or walk to a restaurant near you. It’s cheaper!