Our children will inherit the Earth, and although many of us feel pessimistic about the kind of planet we’ll pass on to our kids (and their kids), it’s not too late to change things for the better.
On World Environment Day, the United Nations (UN) is officially launching the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and this means that, from 5 June 2021, we have 10 years to prevent, stop and reverse ecosystem loss and secure a sustainable future for all.
To help us band together to heal our precious planet, the UN has released an Ecosystem Restoration Playbook. This practical guide explains how we can take action, make smart choices and raise our voices for restoration.
To get started, here are 8 ways your family can join the UN’s global movement to make the world a green, clean place for generations to come.
- Take action to clean up your local environment
Ecosystems around the world are being degraded by rubbish and pollution, and you can make a positive difference in your neck of the woods by:
- Creating a restoration effort, like a Clean Up Australia event,
- Volunteering for a restoration project, like National Tree Day on 1 August 2021, or
- Setting out to clean up a lake, beach, park or other natural area with your family (with gloves on).
- Take action to green your home
Your balcony, backyard and street-side verge are all micro-ecosystems, and the UN says it’s important to manage these areas in ways that boost nature.
You can do this by:
- Planting indigenous trees and other plants at the right time, in the right place
- Caring for new and existing plants to ensure they thrive
- Thinking about other micro-ecosystems you can restore as a group effort (such as your work premises or child’s kindergarten), and
- Making compost to improve soil quality and garden vitality, suppress pests and plant diseases, reduce the green waste going into landfill, and help your soil stay moist.
A DIY worm farm is also a fun project for families, with educational benefits for your child and environmental benefits for your garden.
3. Make smart choices by donating money to a restoration or conservation initiative
Contributing to an impactful initiative doesn’t have to blow the family budget, and there are lots of eco-friendly organisations to choose from.
In Australia, you might pledge funds to:
- Bush Heritage Australia
- The Australian Conservation Foundation
- Greening Australia
- The Wilderness Society
- WWF Australia, or another organisation that’s doing great work to protect and restore our planet.
If you choose to support WWF Australia, there’s also the option of adopting a vulnerable animal, like a snow leopard, or adopting a tree to help protect our native forests.
- Make smart choices by only buying products and services that are certified as sustainable, and cutting your resource use
The UN encourages you to purchase items with a ‘credible eco-label,’ and to actively:
- Look for recycled products and those with less packaging,
- Buy local, and
- Stop using avoidable and unnecessary plastic products.
As we enter the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, it’s also time to put the ‘reuse, recycle, refuse’ mantra into daily practice by:
- Buying second-hand goods
- Repairing things that are broken, and
- Focusing on sharing and borrowing, rather than always buying brand-new. For example, kids’ toys, books and clothing are quickly outgrown, but they can be easily passed between families and communities (COVID-permitting).
- Make smart choices by moving to a diet of seasonal, sustainable and plant-rich products
We are what we eat, and much of what we eat is putting our planet under pressure. To ease this pressure, the UN recommends that you:
- Favour produce that’s in season and grown locally
- Try to reduce your family’s meat and dairy consumption, and
- Reduce the amount of food your family wastes.
- Shopping at a local farmer’s market is one way to cut down the distance your food has travelled, and a weekly meal plan helps to ensure you buy only what you need (and takes the guesswork and time pressure out of mid-week meals).
- Instead of buying apples that are ‘magically’ in season all year round, switch to seasonal fruit for your child’s lunchbox, and look up family-friendly recipes that are packed with taste, but easier on the environment (like this creamy vegan pasta primavera with local/seasonal carrots and peas).
- Raise your voice by ‘greening your circle’
The UN is calling on all people to join #GenerationRestoration, so while you’re taking action and making choices for the good of the planet, you’re encouraged to persuade your friends, extended family and community to do the same. For example, you could:
- Explain ways to easily change your friends’ habits and consumer choices
- Ask your family what they value about local ecosystems and what could be done to improve things, and
- Educate yourself about local ecosystems, so you’re better able to explain their benefits and ailments, both in private and public conversations.
‘Raising your voice’ could mean highlighting the plight of a local nature reserve during playgroup, telling your mum how to recycle soft plastics, or writing a letter to your local newspaper about ecosystem loss. Whatever works!
- Raise your voice by voting with care
Everyone has their own politics, but if there’s an election coming up, the UN encourages you to consider the policies and parties that are committed to environmental restoration and sustainable development.
If a politician has made promises they haven’t kept, you can hold them accountable at the voting booth, and because this is the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, it’s important to remember that each and every year of governance really counts.
- Raise your voice by getting creative
Last but not least, World Environment Day is a chance to celebrate our beautiful planet and remind everyone that Earth is worth saving.
There’s the opportunity to make, take and share images of beautiful local ecosystems, and whether your child contributes to an Enviro Day art exhibition, or you post photos to social media (with the tags #GenerationRestoration and #WorldEnvironmentDay), pictures really can speak a thousand words.
At the end of the day, there are lots of ways to ‘reimagine, recreate and restore’ Earth in the decade ahead.
We all need to join the global movement to heal our one precious planet, make peace with nature and create a flourishing future, so let’s get to it – as individuals, families, communities and Earthlings.
Join the call for 30x30
World Ocean Day – on 8 June 2021 – is another key date on the environmental calendar, and you can take part in this by:
- Signing the 30x30 petition calling for governments to protect at least 30 per cent of Earth’s ocean and land by 2030
- Sharing the 30x30 message on your social media, and
Joining a World Ocean Day event happening in your area.
