UN World Environment Day - 9 ways to make a difference
To mark UN World Environment Day we asked Beatie Wolfe - an artist who has beamed her music into space, been appointed a UN Women campaign role model for innovation and is a regular Evening Standard contributor - about simple lifestyle changes that can massively impact our environment for the better. This seemed especially fitting as the London Design Biennale just announced that Beatie Wolfe's latest art piece, an environmental protest art piece (& reinterpretation of the music video format) titled “From Green To Red”, will be exhibited at its forthcoming festival at Somerset House.
As an artist who has been predominantly working on a large-scale environmental data art protest piece this past year - scheduled to be at a number of festivals this summer until covid hit - I feel as if the CO2 concentration of the earth’s atmosphere is forever imprinted in my mind. With the current global focus on the pandemic, it’s hard to shift gears to something that feels less pressing, less immediate and almost impossible to wrap our heads around. But this beautiful planet is the only one that we have and if this pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us new ways to relate to ourselves, to one another and to the environment around us so perhaps this is a prime opportunity to start planting the seeds for a whole new world.
Here are 9 key tips for simple lifestyle changes (taking guidance from the UN’s World Environment Day suggestions) that we can make to impact our environment for the better:
Change your diet to incorporate more environmentally friendly foods, especially your main protein sources. With the meat industry getting hit by covid and so many more people now cooking at home, this is a great time to mix it up and try some different primary proteins and plant-based foods, especially with the rise of so many great tasting recipes and options.
Travel less - limit your travel when things go back to normal after the Coronavirus pandemic. If the virus has taught us anything these past months, it is how much more we can get done from home. Travelling long distances for a single meeting can be easily simplified into a Zoom call. There is much more we can do thanks to technology without having to always be in the same room.
Leave some wild green spaces in your garden (or window box) where pollinators and ground dwelling insects can thrive. A lot of people have been using this time to reconnect with their love of the outdoors and gardening, seeing it as meditative, mindful and recharging. The great news is that gardening also supports the natural ecosystems living just outside your door. If you don’t have the option of your own green space, you can always get involved in supporting a community urban garden with native flowering plants.
Avoid buying single-use plastics. Plastic waste that ends up in nature is often mistaken for food by animals both on land and at sea. For many species, it can cause severe injury and death. This is one of the biggest issues for our oceans and marine life. Be conscious of how many products (especially food) come in single-use plastics and opt for alternatives.
Recycle as much as you can. Try keeping different bins for food waste, plastics and paper/cardboard and sorting it out after can be much more laborious and messy! You can buy or request a composting bin online through a scheme run by your local council.
Minimize the use of household chemicals that have toxic effects on soil and groundwater. Instead experiment with natural products, such as vinegar, lemon, natural salt, bicarbonate of soda and plain old soap and water. It’s amazing how many simple and cost effective solutions are offered by items you already have in your home.
Create a compost in your garden and grow some of your own produce. Many London Boroughs have food recycling options and community composts locations. Write to your council to campaign them to start one if they don’t already. And if you’ve got a green thumb, try growing your own food! A great way to get the freshest, most local and seasonal produce! Also check out window boxes for growing produce in a flat.
Explore how to buy locally produced products and foods With Farmer’s markets all over London offering great local and seasonal options, it is a great time to support these small businesses.
You can also let your city and national governments know that it is important they meet environmental targets they’ve pledged.
For more information about World Environment Day please visit the UN’s World Environment Day website [https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/] and catch Beatie Wolfe at London’s CogX on 10th June talking about music and tech and her London Design Biennale environmental protest piece: “From Green to Red” [www.fromgreentored.com ].