How You Can Practice Sustainability this Earth Day as an Individual or Organization

As climate change and environmental concerns grow as issues for individuals and organizations, eco-anxiety is on the rise. Many of us want to prioritize sustainability, but how can we each do our part? The Gap Year Association’s Sustainability Committee is working towards creating some useful resources that both individuals and organizations will find useful to start creating a more positive impact. This Earth Day (April 22^nd), we want to share some of the tips that you might be interested in exploring. 

Research renewable energy options

We all use energy at home, at school, at college, at work -everywhere. But do we know whether or not the energy we’re using is renewable? There are now so many affordable and readily-available choices for clean and renewable energy available for lower environmental impact. Renewable energy is often the same price or cheaper than energy from fossil fuels! Call your energy provider and ask them if they offer renewable green energy and what the cost would be. If you aren’t in charge of the energy in your home, work place, or school, you can still encourage those who are in charge to make that call and swap to renewable energy. 

Food and drink on the move

Both at home and away on a gap year program, eating and drinking cause significant waste from single-use products like water bottles, coffee cups, silverware, straws and plastic bags to name a few. One program even teaches their participants to say “I don’t want a straw” and “I don’t want a bag” in Thai while traveling in Thailand to encourage participants to reduce their use of plastics on-program! Even if something is branded as recyclable, it’s much better to use less in the first place. According to National Geographic, 91% of plastic doesn’t get recycled. Plus, recyclable products are down-cycled either way. Thus, each time those products are recycled they become weaker and less useful until they can’t be recycled at all. When plastics and other disposables can’t be recycled, they sit in landfills, creating micro-plastics that then seep into water, food and the air around us. So, long story short, less is best! We suggest getting hold of a reusable water bottle (a perfect canvas for your organization’s stickers or GYA’s new stickers, coming soon), coffee cup, silverware and tote bag! These last for a really long time, both helping the environment and your bank balance. Often coffee shops will give you a discount for using a reusable coffee cup too, win win!

Plant some sunflowers

International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day (created by Guerrilla Gardening) encourages people to get outside and get planting in their local community, is fast approaching on May 1st!. ‘Webster’s Dictionary defines this as ‘A covert planting of flora or crops in a public location.’ Keyword here is public! GYA recommends against planting anything on private or government property! Follow local laws, and respect others’ homes and businesses while beautifying the public, open spaces in your community! The premise is that the more flowers and nature we have around us, the better, especially bees which are so important to our environment. No matter where you live, there are always opportunities to plant some seeds, even if you live in a big city! So grab some sunflower seeds, get out walking, and watch the great video below to take part in International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day on May 1st. You can plant your seeds any time from now!

Offset your or your participants’ carbon

Carbon offsetting, a more and more commonly-used method of reducing the carbon footprint of our transportation, is one way to benefit your participants, yourself, and your home planet. Often, airlines will offer passengers the option to pay a bit extra and this money will be donated to a carbon offsetting organization or charity who will use the money to do something beneficial – planting trees or investing in sustainable projects and practices. If you value environmental consciousness as a gap year provider, you could consider offsetting the carbon that your participants use to get to your program site or during your program. As a leader or participant, you could choose to offset your own carbon that you will use to get to your gap year program! To learn how much carbon your (non-pandemic) travel produces, use the calculator on this site: thegoodtraveler.org. When you can, use local, public transportation, or walk or ride bikes on your programs to reduce your carbon footprint as well. 

Shop local and seasonal

It’s estimated that the average meal in the US travels 1,500 miles to get to your plate. For every mile travelled carbon dioxide is produced, fossil fuels are used and produce is often picked early and ripened using chemicals. These significantly impact the environment. Although there are some things we will never be able to grow in our own countries there are a surprising amount of products that we can get or varieties of these from local farms, markets and stores. They’re not always available  year-round but purchasing seasonal and local produce means things are fresher, they’ve travelled a shorter distance so contribute less carbon dioxide and you’re supporting a local farmer! Cooking with local and seasonal vegetables adds an additional fun challenge when cooking and is great for individuals and providers! 

Talk to your local representative

The COP26 environmental conference is happening this year! Representatives from around the world will make commitments to climate change and climate positivity. Restrictions dependent, the conference will take place in Glasgow, Scotland in November. There will also be a Youth COP taking place in Milan, Italy in September. Now is the PERFECT time to get in touch with your local representative or politician to encourage them to take the climate crisis seriously. The more pressure that we can apply now, the better before these conferences. When representatives turn up at the conference they already know what they’re allowed to negotiate on, so get in contact now to let them know that as an individual or an organization you want sustainability and climate to be a priority. 

Pick up some rubbish

Take part in some litter picking with family, friends, groups, charities or on your own! You can use the Litterati app to track what you’re picking up. This makes it really interactive, competitive amongst a group and the data collected can then be used to create positive environmental policy change. 

If you’re interested in finding out about more Earth Day Activities, you can check them out here!

We would love to hear any top sustainability tips that you have in your life or organization, so please email them to us at: sustainability@gapyearassociation.org

Tag @gapyearassociation on Instagram with #GYA_Sustainability so everyone can see what you’re up to! Keep your eye out for more Sustainability Resources from the GYA Sustainability Committee, to come out in the near future.