According to the saying, “Every day is Earth Day”. But it has been commonly celebrated on April 22nd worldwide since 1970. Why? Kathleen Rogers, president of the Earth Day organization in Washington and one of the first founders in the organization of the Earth Day, says that one of the main reasons for choosing April 22nd 1970 as the first Earth Day was because that year it was a Wednesday, the ideal day of the week to call for a nationwide environmental protest. Over 20 million people in the US participated and, since then, it has been celebrated every year in over 180 countries with the aim of raising awareness of the impact of our actions on the planet.
Since its inception, the impact of humans on the environment has been increasing, causing much greater environmental damage due to industrialization. But on the other hand, we hope that people are now much more aware of the importance of caring for the environment and of making more sustainable choices in their daily lives. In the same way, companies are using their power to raise awareness of this problem and using their innovation to create new ways of making our lifestyle more sustainable.
What can companies do for Earth Day?
Companies can take an important role in this day by contributing in a positive way to the objectives sought on this day. Some of the actions companies could take on this day are:
- Turn off the lights as a sign of your commitment to a responsible use of energy
- Collaborate with institutions that promote sustainability in a project that can involve clients in addition to just raising awareness
- Make a video or any other multimedia content that involves the employees and senior managers of the company demonstrating in favour of Earth Day and its objectives and post it on social media
- Send awareness to customers through company media such as sending them an email, or posting an article on your blog
What have other companies done?
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day last year, the company Google chose to create an interactive doodle that was intended to send out a message of environmental awareness. Google worked together with The Honeybee Conservancy, and the doodle featured a bee that had to be guided through pollination in different parts of the world. Along the way, information was being provided about the importance of these insects and their preservation for the environment.
Other important examples are Coca-Cola, which chose to promote ecological, social and economic programs that contribute to the environment together with FEMSA, and actively joins the SDGs. The Body Shop, a brand of cosmetic and skin care products that always opts for natural and ecological products, committed to generating a positive impact on the environment with campaigns such as creating a wood line, a range of bath products such as toothbrushes or hairbrushes made from sustainable materials like wood.
In Area10Marketing we are a sustainable communication and green marketing agency that is very aware of the problem that our planet is suffering. We fight for the promotion of more sustainable ideas and we are committed to helping companies become greener without affecting their performance.
Earth Day is one day a year, but every day we can do our bit to help our planet, if you want to do yours with us, click here, we’d love to help you!