World Environment Day – Mover SDGs

The World Environment Day or WED is an event that has been set up by the United Nations as a reminder that on that particular day, we need to do something that is termed good for the environment.

It might sound as if this day has been recently initiated, but that is not the case. Environment day - or Eco Day as it is also known – has been around for 45 years.

Moreover, the question comes to mind – why do we need an occasion to remind us to take care of our home?

For every year there is a theme and a slogan, let us take a look at some of them:

· Only one earth – 1974 in the US, and that was the first WED.

· Water: Vital resource of life – 1976 in Canada

· Managing and Disposing of Hazardous Waste: Acid Rain and Energy - 1983 in Bangladesh

· Environment and Shelter: More Than a Roof – 1987 in Nairobi, Kenya.

· When People Put the Environment First, Development Will Last – 1988 in Bangkok, Thailand

· Poverty and the Environment – Breaking the Vicious Circle – 1993 in Beijing, China

· The Environment Millennium – Time to Act – 2000 in Adelaide, Australia

· Water – Two Billion People are Dying for It! – 2003 in Beirut, Lebanon.

· Connecting People to Nature – in the city and on the land, from the poles to the equator – 2017 in Ottawa, Canada.

· Air pollution – 2019 in China – the main reason being the number of people dying from air pollution.

There is a pattern here that is obvious, air, water, land – all are severely polluted, it is affecting our lives. Plastic is burying us under it, as it not only gives us a tremendous amount of trash that we can’t deal with, but so much more trash is buried in landfills, and it is not biodegradable. Still, more is in the seas, killing marine life.

It is not about slogans or themes, but it is about building awareness towards specific issues concerning the environment. As awareness grows, more people become involved in hands-on ethics that either improve environmental conditions or at least slow the depletion of resources, and drive changes that could with time reverse the damage.

Sometimes, knowledge is the seed, and from there we take it one step at a time, but that is all that is needed - to make sure that we do our part in any way that we can. The least of which is to teach the coming generations how to take care of our resources, and make sure that their print on Earth is a Green Print, not a destructive one.

June 5 has been designated to celebrate that day, and an anthem was written for it by Abhay K:

“Our cosmic oasis, cosmic blue pearl

The most beautiful planet in the universe

All the continents and all the oceans

United we stand as flora and fauna

United we stand as species of one earth

Different cultures, beliefs, and ways

We are humans; the Earth is our home

All the people and the nations of the world

All for one and one for all

United we unfurl the blue marble flag.” From Wikipedia

We need to take action, and now, there is no time. Moreover, that should not be only on Environment day, but every day, each one of us in his or her life.

An anthem, a world environment day, sustainability – all leads us back to just one point:

Why do we need any reminders to take care of our home?