Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Participate in the different events
• Method 2 of 3: Organize your own event
• Method 3 of 3: Do things that benefit the environment

World Environment Day (WED) is an annual event held on June 5 to raise awareness of the need to commit to the environment. WED is led by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and is the culmination of the environmental activities undertaken throughout the year by UNEP and other organizations and individuals around the world. By participating in this day you will have the opportunity to share your ideas and activities and make our world cleaner, greener and brighter.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Participate in the different events

1. Go to the World Environment Day website. Go to http://worldenvironmentday.global/en and take the time to review the information provided there and decide what interests you the most. You can read stories and news about the environment and learn how to participate in events.
   • You can also use the website to register an activity that you, your school, company, workplace or a neighborhood association organizes for the WED. The great thing about registering your activity is that you can inspire others who learn about what you do.
2. Find out what the WED environmental theme of the year is. For example, in 2017 the theme was "Connecting people with nature". This theme encourages people to spend time in nature and appreciate the beauty and splendor of nature. It also focuses on protecting the environment from harm.
   • Also check out which country is the host country for the WED of the year. For example, in 2017 Canada was the host country for WED. If you live in the host country, expect to have additional fun activities planned in your area!
3. View the activities already planned in your area. You may want to get in on what's planned, or even help out if you're early enough to volunteer for the event. Check the WED website and search the internet for WED events near you.
4. Add a photo or video to the nature album to share your favorite place. The WED website is working on the largest nature album in the world. Take a photo or video of your favorite site in nature and post it on the album. For example, take a photo of your favorite lake or mountain range, a video of thunderstorms or a time-lapse video of beautiful clouds.
5. Promote World Environment Day on social media. Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites to promote WED. Share events in your area, quote environmental facts, add photos taken in nature, or give tips on sustainable living. Either way, make it known to your friends, family and followers that it's World Environment Day!

Method 2 of 3: Organize your own event

1. Collect recyclable items to reduce waste. Post signs around the area to let people know they can drop off materials for recycling at a specific location. Then take the items to an official collection point. This is especially useful when collecting items that do not need to be thrown away, such as electronics, batteries and paint cans.
2. Organize a film festival to showcase environmental issues. You can host a film festival in your community that focuses on environmental issues. View An Inconvenient Truth, The Day After Tomorrow, Soylent Green, or Erin Brockovich. If children are watching, remember WALL-E or FernGully: The Last Rainforest (However, showing films in front of a group is not allowed just like that).
   • If you plan this in advance, you can add your city to the Wild & Scenic Film Festival Tour.
3. Organize an arts and crafts exhibition that focuses on sustainability. This shows that it is important to think about where your products come from and how they are made in order to leave a smaller footprint on the environment. Invite local artists and craftsmen who make their products in a sustainable way.
   • For example, opt for artists who use recycled material in their projects or knitters who use eco-friendly yarns to make clothing and other items.
4. Organize a poetry afternoon or evening to hear the opinion of others about the environment. You could host a poetry reading at a local coffee shop or bookstore to create a platform where people can share their views, concerns, and hopes about the environment. An event like this also helps connect people through their shared love of nature. Choose poets or poems that focus on environmental issues, such as eco poetry.
   • You can also add drama readings or performances.
   • Choose poems such as "Flood" by Pablo Neruda or excerpts from Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass".
5. Schedule a concert to raise money for an environmental charity. This is a fun way to get people together for a good cause. Invite local musicians to make music in an open-air theater. You might even find musicians using recycled material for their instruments, or musicians whose music is focused on nature or the environment.
   • You can charge an entrance fee and donate the money to an environmental cause, such as saving endangered species. Alternatively, you can also place a donation box so that people can donate money.
   • If you don't want to charge an entry fee, you can ask that people bring bottles to recycle or participate in a local cleanup if they want to attend the concert.
   • You can play music or have bands play covers of well-known songs, such as "Mother Nature's Son" by the Beatles, or John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change" (which may require permission).
6. Plant trees for more oxygen in the air. Trees are great for the environment because they convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. Gather a group of people and arrange for trees to be planted in your community. Get permission before planting trees in public places such as parks, or choose to plant trees in your own yard, or in those of your neighbors or friends if they agree.
7. Organize a neighborhood clean-up to spruce up your neighborhood. Invite your neighbors to help clean the place you all live in. This is a great activity to do with children. Pick up trash, pull weeds, or even make minor repairs to nearby fences or houses.
8. Plan a nature quest to connect with the world around you. Invite adults and children from your area to participate in a wildlife search. Make a list of items to find, such as: a yellow flower, a green leaf, a ladybug, a feather, a smooth rock, a blade of grass, a special cloud, something blue, etc. Optionally hand out prizes to the winners, such as environmentally friendly carrier bags.
9. Develop the ecological awareness in your environment. Set up a booth outside the local library or grocery store (after obtaining permission). Talk to people about environmental issues or hand out brochures or information kits. This can be a great way to educate others about important environmental issues.

Method 3 of 3: Do things that benefit the environment

1. Choose an environmentally friendly, sustainable lifestyle. Assess your energy consumption, consumption patterns and dependence on unsustainable products, and list ways in which you intend to limit your unsustainable activities and habits and replace them with sustainable ones. Set up a timeline to follow, with trickier changes at the end of the timeline.
   • For example, consider eating meat-free meals twice a week. You can also make it a point to turn off lights and electronics when not in use. Another idea is to walk to work or the market as often as possible.
2. Choose sustainable, organic or Fair Trade goods. Read the labels of origin and production of your goods and decide if you can make better choices. Find out if your products are certified as sustainable, organic, locally made or Fair Trade. There are many things a label can tell you if you want to make the effort to read it.
   • Sustainable products include products obtained in a sustainable way: all wood products with the FSC logo, for example, are harvested according to sustainable forestry practices.
   • Organic products, such as organic cotton clothing, cause much less environmental damage than non-organic, made according to conventional cotton growing practices.
   • Locally made products reduce the impact on the environment because they travel fewer miles, meaning fewer emissions, to reach consumers.
   • Fair Trade products are ethically sourced and take into account the indigenous people and the environment in the areas where they are produced.
   • If you can't find a label, email or post on Facebook to the company, retailer, or manufacturer responsible for the product. Facebook is a suitable method, as many other people will be viewing your question and waiting for the answer!
3. Travel with it public transport to reduce your impact on the environment. Make a choice to use public transportation more often than now to reduce the amount of harmful fumes entering the environment. Carpooling is also a good way to reduce emissions. You can also go by bike or on foot to destinations that are close by.
4. Get involved in a conservation, restoration, or ecological community project. Today is a great day to sign up and get involved with people doing something instead of talking or reading about it. Sign up to help restore an old building in the city, or join a local water conservation group.
5. Free up space in your garden to grow fruit and vegetables. If you have a garden that you don't use much, plan to plant fruits, vegetables, and herbs for your personal use, or even flowers that attract bees. Growing your own food helps to reduce pressure on the environment. Things you can do to get the most out of your garden include:
   • Compost your green waste. Use this compost] to stimulate garden production.
   • Make some of it edible and plant seasonal crops. For those of us with just a balcony or a small lot, you can still grow food, such as a potato in a bag and sprouts in your windowsill. You can also participate in a communal vegetable garden.
   • Growing herbs and spices that add flavor to your food, look beautiful in the garden, and also have medicinal, beautiful, healing, spiritual, or other uses. Borrow a book from the library to learn more about the uses of herbs and spices. These plants don't need a lot of space and can be grown on a windowsill or balcony.
   • Promote beneficial and friendly animals and insects in your garden by carefully planting and creating shelter.
   • Learn to water your own garden with non-chemical agents to control harmful insects and mildew without harming people and beneficial animals!
6. Refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle. Refuse to buy unsustainable products, reduce your consumption, reuse items and materials around your home, and recycle everything you can. All that junk has to go somewhere, so make a conscious choice to start with not to bring it into your home, and if it needs to go, make good choices about where it will end!
   • Think about borrowing, sharing, donating, timeshares, etc., instead of buying something. Or pass it on after you read / used / viewed / worn / enjoyed it.