World Environment Day 2021

Reimagine. Recreate. Restore.

Today is World Environment Day. It’s a day created to promote awareness and encourage action to protect our environment.

This year’s theme is Ecosystem Restoration where the focus is to prevent, stop and reverse the damage that has been caused to our ecosystems.

If we don’t start taking more action, it’s going to result in major problems not just for us but for future generations. So it’s incredibly important that we reduce the amount of harm that human activity is having on the environment.

Here we provide a little more detail on this year’s World Environment Day theme as well as how we can all play a part in protecting the amazing planet we call home.

What is an ecosystem?

It’s a group of living or non-living things, for example plants, animals, insects or people, that interact and live with each other in a specific environment. From forests, wetlands and coral reefs to cities and farmlands; ecosystems are essentially everything we see around us!

Why are ecosystems so important?

To put it simply, we depend on them to survive. They provide essentials like food, water, medicine and energy. Without healthy ecosystems, the water we drink wouldn’t be clean, the air we breathe wouldn’t be purified and crops to grow our food wouldn’t be pollinated.

There are a lot of threats to our ecosystems that are causing serious harm and destruction. Here are just a few:

Pollution

Air, land, water and soil pollution releases toxic chemicals that damage the health of our ecosystems. It’s killing plants and animals as well as their habitats.

Climate change

The rise in global temperature is destroying coral reefs, water cycles and mountain regions which are all vital resources. If climate change continues, it’s estimated that 10% of the world’s species will be extinct by 2050.

**Exploitation of natural resources **

Excessive fishing, mining and hunting are having a devastating effect on species in our ecosystems. Populations are decreasing, breeding is slowing down and habitats are being lost.

What can we do to help?

The United Nations Environment Program is an amazing guide that shows how you can get involved in Generation Restoration, an initiative aiming to prevent environmental devastation within the next ten years.

A lot of work needs to be done and it can sound pretty overwhelming, but there are simple everyday steps we can all take to help out. Here are a few:

Clean up

If you stumble across rubbish and litter on your daily walks then why not take some time to clean up what you can. It’s especially important near rivers, lakes and beaches as it prevents rubbish from entering the water. Plus, the better an area looks, the more likely other people are to take care of it. You could even volunteer for clean ups in your local area!

Recycle

A lot of us will already recycle, whether it’s at home, at work or while we’re out and about. But if you don’t, it’s important to know that recycling has a really positive impact on the environment. Start separating your paper, plastics and glass – and anything else recyclable – from the rest of your waste and make full use of recycling bins!

Save water

Do you leave the tap running when you’re brushing your teeth? Do you stay in the shower a few minutes longer than you need to? We’re all guilty of it! But wastewater carries dangerous chemicals that disrupt ecosystems and harms habitats and crops. So using less water wherever possible is a brilliant (and easy) way of protecting our ecosystems.

Go paperless

Trees support our life on Earth. They provide us with oxygen and they absorb carbon from the atmosphere. By going paperless you can do your bit to preserve the life of trees. Paper manufacturing also causes a huge amount of pollution and needs plenty of water along the way – it take 1.5 cups of water to make just one sheet of paper! So the benefits of reducing paper use are huge. That’s why we encourage all of our customers to ditch the paper and go digital. We opt all of our app users in for paperless statements when they open an account and everything they need to view is available on the thinkmoney app. But if you haven't gone paperless yet, why not? Head to the app where you can opt in today!

Find out more

There is so much more information out there about World Environment Day, and it’s well worth exploring to learn more about the threats our planet is facing.

Head to World Environment Day 2021 for a more in depth look at why restoring our ecosystems is so important, and be sure to check out the United Nations Environment Program to see how you can get involved in Generation Restoration.

We’re all in this together, so let’s take any steps we can to protect our environment.