History & Significance
The World Environment Day is celebrated annually on the 5th of June since 1973. The day was fixated to be such by the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP), which is an international body that raises awareness about the environmental problems faced by our planet. World Environment Day highlights different environmental issues such as climate change, air pollution, plastic pollution, sea-level rise, illegal wildlife trade, sustainable consumption, food security, and more such topics.
The host for this World Environment Day 2024 is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The theme of World Environment Day 2024 focuses on land restoration, stopping desertification, and building drought resilience and the slogan according to the UN Environment Programme is:
“Our land. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration”
Activities for World Environment Day
- Planting a Tree: Trees are man’s best complementary friends. Trees absorb Carbon Dioxide(CO2) from the atmosphere for photosynthesis and release Oxygen(O2). Plants also help mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations. We can start by planting a sapling in our backyard or on a nearby empty land. If humans can plant at least one plant daily, this planet will be more greener than we can ever imagine.
- Conserve Water: Water is a limited resource and the conservation of such ensures that enough water is available for our future generations. Water conservation helps during periods of drought, helps preserve aquatic habitats, and maintains biodiversity. Having fewer shower durations, ensuring that we never leave the tap open, fixing leaky pipes, and using water-efficient appliances, help us conserve water.
- 3R (Reuse, Reduce, Recycle): By reusing things more than once, by reducing the amount of waste generation by us, and by recycling and using things more than once in our everyday lives, we can impact the environment as we see it greatly. Implementing such practices not only makes our environment better but also reduces the cost of living and makes us disciplined.
- Volunteering for a Clean-up: Individuals frequently dump wastes close to the water bodies or close to neighborhoods, without thinking about the dangers entailing such acts. We can volunteer for clean up of such waste dump areas and add to a better environment.
- Use of Eco-Friendly Transportation: Rather than utilizing transportation modes that add to air and noise pollution, we can move to eco-friendly and sustainable modes of transportation. For short distances, bicycles can be used which hardly add to any adverse effects to the environment. We can likewise utilize electric vehicles rather than gas-powered ones.
Know how the Gangotri Glacier is Melting by clicking here.
10 Best Quotes for World Environment Day
- A cry for survival comes from the planet itself. A cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear. [President Joseph R. Biden].
- Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge; it’s common sense. [President Ronald Reagan].
- Good stewardship of the environment is not just a personal responsibility, it is a public value. Our duty is to use the land well, and sometimes not to use it at all. This is our responsibility as citizens, but more than that, it is our calling as stewards of the earth. [President George W. Bush].
- Sustainable development – development that does not destroy or undermine the ecological, economic, or social basis on which continued development depends – is the only viable pathway to a more secure and hopeful future for rich and poor alike. [Maurice Strong].
- There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use. [Mother Teresa].
- Climate change is happening, humans are causing it, and I think this is perhaps the most serious environmental issue facing us. [Bill Nye].
- Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans. [Jacques Yves Cousteau].
- The Truly Healthy environment is not merely safe but stimulating. [William H. Stewart].
- A healthy ecology is the basis for a healthy economy. [Claudine Schneider].
- The future will either be green or not at all. [Bob Brown].
