World Environment Day (WED) and Why You have Probably Never Heard of It

Yesterday I helped to publicise the Eco Action Day event on 5 June, which is organised to coincide with World Environment Day (WED).

What’s WED, you ask? To be honest, I’ve never heard of it either until 3 days ago.

It is a United Nations initiated global initiative, and the first was held way back in 1972. Each year, a city will host a week-long international exposition to discuss various environmental issues.

For example, this year’s topic is “Melting Ice – A Hot Topic?” and will be focusing on climate changes and the effects on ice- and snowcovered areas of the world.

That description pretty much sums up why after more than three decades, you’d struggle to find anyone familiar with this.

  1. Lack of a permanent home: It is organised by the UN and rotated annually among different countries. I couldn’t even find an official WED web site. Instead, a new one sprouts up every year.
  2. Lack of hands-on action: The programme is dominated by conferences and discussions.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s of no use. In fact, it’s probably an excellent opportunity for academics and policy makers to exchange ideas.

But for the typical man in the street, this day will simply pass us by.

Which is why Star Bamboo supports the Eco Action Day:

  1. It is local: It is not happening in some faraway, exotic city, but right where you work.
  2. It is hands-on: It is not about attending lectures or discussions, but practical steps that you can take to reduce the amount of energy that you use.

I have two suggestions to make it even more meaningful:

Firstly, encourage participating companies to carry on beyond 5 June. Don’t just do it for a day, do it every day.

Secondly, it’s not just for the office – you can do the same at home as well.

Good luck! :)

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