What is Earth Day?
22 April has been recognised as Earth day every year since it began in 1970. This is an annual event designed to drive action on the environment and climate crisis around the world. The theme this year is “Restore Our Earth” – participants are urged to focus on both how we can reduce our impact on the planet and how we can actively repair the worlds ecosystems.
The emphasis is greater than ever this year due to increased levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, despite multiple country-wide lockdowns (Dunne, 2020).
What will the events entail and how can I join?
Unfortunately, the pandemic has resulted in Earth Day 2021 being moved online. However, this means that you can watch the speeches of some truly amazing people from the comfort of your own home.
The event will start from 16:00 on Thursday 22 April and will cover topics such as:
- Climate and environmental literacy
- Climate restoration technologies
- Reforestation efforts
- Regenerative agriculture
- Equity and environmental justice
- Citizen science
- Cleanups, and more.
For a list of all the events, click here and see which ones you would like to attend.
What are NR Barton doing to reduce their impact on the environment?
Over the last 12 months, NR Barton have made massive improvements to reduce both our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment. Firstly, we are now completely digital – all of our files are now stored online, meaning that we no longer deal with bags of paper records and waste. This has been a fantastic step for staff efficiency and waste reduction.
Additionally, since moving into our new offices, we have been able to reduce our energy consumption massively by investing in energy efficient office equipment. Our energy consumption has been reduced further by us only using one office building, as opposed to the three which we occupied prior to the move.
Finally, many of our staff have now ditched their cars and are cycling to work to reduce the emissions from cars and public transport. It has also been proven that cycling to work is a fantastic way to become mentally sharper and reduce stress/anxiety inducing hormones. Not to mention the other benefits which include weight loss, saving money and more (CycleScheme, 2017).
This is a scheme which more businesses should push as road transport accounts for 22% of total UK emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) – a major contributor to climate change (Environmental Protection UK, 2019).
References:
- 2017. The Health Benefits of Cycling to Work, for Employers and Employees – Cyclescheme. [online] Available at: <https://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/employers/employer-updates/the-benefits-of-cycling-to-work> [Accessed 2021].
- Dunne, D., 2020. CO2 remains at record levels despite Covid pandemic. [online] The Independent. Available at: <https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/climate-crisis-co2-covid-pandemic-b1760236.html> [Accessed April 2021].
- Environmental Protection UK. 2021. Car Pollution – Environmental Protection UK. [online] Available at: <https://www.environmental-protection.org.uk/policy-areas/air-quality/air-pollution-and-transport/car-pollution/> [Accessed 2021].
