Celebrating Earth Day 2020

With the majority of the world in lockdown, Earth Day is going to be a little different this year. You might be thinking, I don’t even know what Earth Day is, how can I get involved? Shouldn’t every day be Earth Day? Let’s break it all down.

Earth Day is held every year on April 22. It started in America in 1970 by The Earth Day Network and is now celebrated in almost every country in the world every year. Last year, about a billion people worldwide marked the event by signing environmental petitions, planting trees, cleaning up beaches and neighbourhoods and showing support via social media. This year, the theme is ‘climate action’; however, in light of COVID-19, tomorrow we will see the first ever ‘Digital Earth Day’.

How can you get involved at home? Here are 10 ideas to get you started…

1. Show your support online. This might be simply re-posting an Earth Day message and tagging us and #EarthDay2020 or liking, commenting or sharing sustainable local small business pages to spread the word. These things are free, super easy to do and it keeps the climate action conversation alive in a positive light.

2. Educate yourself by watching, reading or listening to an eco film, book or podcast. There’s so many incredible resources, we’ve complied a list of a few of our favourites here.

3. Plant a tree (we can on your behalf.) With every purchase you make from GoodFor in-store or online, we donate money to have one tree planted. We work with the incredible organisation Trees For The Future, who concentrate their efforts in Central, East and West Africa where conditions are harsh and people suffer the most from drought and lack of resources. Another option if you’re in a position to, is to donate what you can to companies like Million Metres who plant native trees in New Zealand and restore our waterways.

4. Organise your waste system more efficiently – if you don’t currently compost, Ethically Kate wrote a fantastic blog post in collaboration with WeCompost on how to set up a composting system at home (even if you have no backyard). Check it out here.

5. Get the kids involved to brainstorm ideas on how you can save energy around the house – make it into a game! Plus, you’ll be happy to see your energy bill decrease!

6. The Earth Day Network has loads of live events happening all day on Wednesday 22 April on their social media which will spill over to Thursday NZ time – check them out to see the full list.

7. Learn how to garden and grow your own produce. The Kalmarna Community Garden in Auckland has created some fantastic free ‘learning from home sessions’. Check them out here.

8. Check out our delicious recipe collection which has plenty of plastic-free, plant based options everyone will love! Get the kids making these simple peanut butter chocolate dipped cookies or have a go at making your own homemade tortillas so you never have to buy them in plastic again!

9. Clear out your pantry and create a no-waste circular system! We have a beautiful selection of glass jars available. If a jar you like isn’t available on our website right now, we will be getting more stock in after lockdown. If you already have used jars at home, check out our tip on how to remove the labels here. Having clear, glass containers is great because you can easily see what you need to refill – if you can’t make it in-store, we send all our online orders in brown paper bags which you can reuse and then just refill your jars.

10. In light of it also being fashion revolution week – it’s a great time to clear out your wardrobe! Our tips:

• Make a pile of clothes you don’t wear but could be altered/changed so you will wear them again. 

• Make another pile of clothes you don’t wear that are still in good condition you can donate to Op shops, the Salvation Army or places like Recycle Boutique. Any old teeshirts that aren’t in good condition, consider using for cleaning rags.

• Make a third pile of clothes you will continue to wear to keep and then find out from these brands where your clothes are made and who made them? For further details around this, the Fashion Revolution NZ page has put together a great blog post – check it out here.

• If you do find you’re missing a wardrobe staple, first look to support op shops, second-hand and vintage clothing stores. @secondhandmap has started a great list of these worldwide. And if all else fails – look for a sustainable option you can afford. 

We have found another level of appreciation for our earth and social connection over this last month. Obviously, this is a really difficult time for many people and some of the above won’t be achievable for everyone which is okay! If nothing else, we hope it’s given you a few ideas on how you can help to contribute this Earth Day.

Tag us in your Earth Day 2020 posts, we’d love to share!