By Mandy Birch, Green Economy London Volunteer
While Earth Day may have been on April 22nd, it’s important to remember that it goes beyond this one date – it’s everyday. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of the approaching Earth Day celebration, feeling extra inspired to do your part in supporting climate action and environmental protection, and then quickly lose the motivation to follow through once the day has passed. But businesses play a key role in making a positive environmental impact, reaching net-zero by 2050 targets and taking climate action.
Now is the time for businesses to become part of the solution, reduce GHG emissions, waste and water consumption, and contribute to a resilient, sustainable community and environment. Taking climate action is an opportunity for you to be part of the solution and make a positive environmental impact while future-proofing your business. Fortunately, there are so many ways that you can continue the fight against climate change all year round. Getting involved with community events is a great way to start! Check out some of these upcoming events that you can participate in individually or as a workplace:
Lights Out London – Help Reduce Light Pollution this Spring
This year, Bird Friendly London is launching a grassroots city-wide initiative to reduce light pollution in London by encouraging people and businesses to turn off unneeded lights after dark. The focus of this event is during the week of May 13-19, 2022, coinciding with World Migratory Bird Day on May 14. This year’s theme for World Migratory Bird Day is dedicated to reducing light pollution.
Participating is really easy – all that’s asked is that you complete these three steps:
- Let us know! If you are a business or property manager in London or surrounding area, or if you live in a large residential building that will be participating, please fill out this form indicating that you’ll be turning out some or all of your lights after dark. We would be thrilled to acknowledge you among participating partners in London.
- Let people at your organization or in your community know about this initiative. Use this template poster to spread the word about the event, such as posting it near an elevator or main entrance or circulating an email.
- Please share word of your participation on social media, to help raise awareness of light pollution and your organization’s commitment to address it by using the hashtag #lightsoutlondon or tagging @BirdFriendlyLdn and @LondonEnviroNet on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
For more information about this initiative, please contact londonbirdteam@gmail.com
Depave Paradise
As a member of Green Communities Canada, the London Environmental Network has recently launched a Depave Paradise program for the London region! The aim of the Depave Paradise program is to secure underutilized, paved sites of 100m2 or more, and rip out the asphalt and replace it with native, storm water retentive plants and pollination gardens.
The next Depave Paradise events will be held in June 2022 in London and St. Thomas, and volunteers are welcome to register here. Not able to volunteer but still wanting to support somehow? Gather your coworkers and consider making a donation here!
Set a Reduction Target
Green Economy London supports businesses in setting and achieving sustainability targets to reduce emissions and their environmental impact while also achieving cost and resource savings. We walk businesses through the milestones to measure and track their impact, make reductions, and offer resources, public recognition, and other learning opportunities to support them in doing this. The first step is to take a GHG Inventory of your operations. Green Economy London will collect data on your energy usage from scopes 1 and 2 sources, and scope 3 (optional), measure your impact and set a baseline to compare your reductions against.
You can then set a reduction target in waste, water, emissions reduction, and environmental stewardship target areas. Working to achieve these targets with your workplace will allow you to take action year-round and keep employees engaged! Setting and achieving targets not only helps keep you accountable, but it builds transparency and shows that you’re taking actionable steps to reduce your environmental impact and GHG emissions.
Within the four target areas there are a multitude of opportunities to innovate and implement projects such as:
- Greenhouse gas emissions reductions from energy
- Water consumption reduction
- Reducing waste and/or diverting it from going to the landfill, and
- Environmental stewardship which are actions that lead to protection and conservation of habitats, species at risk, improving biodiversity, and preserving natural resources and ecosystems.
Want to learn more about measuring your business’ impact and setting a reduction target? Reach out to our Program Coordinator, Kaitlin at kaitlin@londonenvironment.net.
