It’s hard to believe that Earth Day is over 40 years old and yet we are still challenged with climate change and fighting to bring awareness to environmental issues. But change IS happening and we ARE making a difference.
Earth Day is now celebrated in more than 192 countries and the Earth Day Network, which coordinates activities around the world, has already inspired over 1 billion Acts of Green by individuals and companies globally. Moreover, sustainability has grown from a community and student activist movement in the 70’s to a respected and expected business approach mandated by some of the most influential brands in the world. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.
At TMS, we’re honoring Earth Day by doing what we strive toward every day: to inspire others to see the deep and intimate connection between the quality of our lives as humans and the well-being of our environment — both natural and social. As a company, we’re passionate about helping people use this lens to recognize opportunities to make a positive difference. By bringing clients, colleagues and collaborators together to share the best of their ideas and experience, we can help organizations find opportunities to conserve resources and improve their environment in a way that not only optimizes and enhances business but also enriches our everyday lives.
On an individual level, we’re celebrating the day in a variety of ways. Our LA Circle coach, Ken will be taking his UCLA sustainability certificate students to the LA Sustainable Business Council’s Industry Achievement Awards, showing them that making a difference and making a profit are not mutually exclusive. Alex, who supports our marketing, sales and coaching efforts, will be visiting the fern tree that she and friends planted 20 years ago, a living proof of how people can work together to make a difference and help the environment. A number of us are giving up our car for the day in favor of alternative transportation and enjoying some nice Spring weather.
As social beings, we have the wonderful capacity to learn and motivate each other through our own individual actions. Collectively, little things can make a big difference. Just a few of the things we’ve committed to do everyday include:
- Only using reusable shopping bags
- Replacing incandescents with CFLs and LEDs
- Using shower timers (as much as some of our teenagers balk)
- Recycling, reusing, composting
- Buying vintage clothes and those that don’t require dry cleaning
- Volunteering
- Using grey water to water the garden
- Setting the rain delay on automatic sprinklers
- Unplugging appliances and electronics when they’re not in use (curb that vampire power!)
If you’re looking for ways to make a difference on Earth Day, or any day, here are a few additional suggestions:
- Shower timers (no batteries needed!)
- Shut off the water while brushing your teeth and soaping up in the shower
- Nest smart thermostat (or just turn down/off the thermostat at night and when not at home)
- Solar-powered chargers and gadgets
- Occupancy sensors for your home (or turn out the lights when you leave a room)
- Rain water harvesting
- Bring an extra bag to the beach to collect litter and plastics
- Use your design skills to improve recycling signage at your local gym
We invite you to take 5 minutes to stop and reflect about the Earth, our natural environment, and what 1 or 2 small (or big) personal behavior changes we can each make in our lives. If you’d like to make it official (and for even more ideas), visit A Billion Acts of Green® which rewards both simple individual acts and larger organizational initiatives that reduce carbon emissions and support sustainability.
This is the great thing about Earth Day — it reminds us that we can and should act and that by doing so we inspire others. There is truly nothing more rewarding than seeing the glint in someone’s eye when they begin to understand that their simple actions really do make a difference.
Happy Earth Day!
