June 5 is the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Environment Day. World Environment Day is an annual event aimed at being the biggest and most widely celebrated day of environmental impact across the world. The United Nations mission is to empower individuals to become global agents of change for environmental issues through global action.
Since 1972, World Environment Day has been celebrated on or around June 5.
The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is “Green Economy, does it include you?”
The United Nations would love for all communities to get involved in their environment initiative. How can your community become active today? Check out our 30 ideas below to help make your community a more green economy!
1. Change your light bulbs. If every household changed one bulb to a compact fluorescent bulb, it would be equivalent to removing 1 million
cars from the environment.
2. Turn off your computer. By turning your computer off, instead of leaving it in sleep mode, you can save up to 40 watts of electricity per day.
3. Recycle glass. By recycling your glassware, you reduce air pollution by 20 percent and water pollution by 50 percent.
4. Hang dry those clothes. Get a clothesline to hang your wet clothes. Not only will you save energy, your clothes will last longer!
5. Wash in cold or warm cycle. If every household in the United States switched to the warm-cold or cold-cold washing cycle, we could save enough energy comparable to 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
6. Recycle newspaper. Recycling just the Sunday paper could save up to half a million trees annually.
7. Get rid of your bottled water. Nearly 90% of bottled water is not recycled, bottle take thousands of years to decompose. Reduce, reuse, and recycle!
8. Brush your teeth without running water. You will conserve up to 5 gallons per day, if you do not run water while brushing your teeth.
9. Plant a tree. Get your neighbors together and plant a tree in the community. It will not only provide shade and a fun bonding experience, but will also improve your community’s air quality.
10. Use cruise control. By using cruise control, you can save up to 15% in gas mileage. Judging by today’s gas prices, this is a win-win situation!
11. Buy local. Greenhouse gas pollution is created when food is flown from the farm to your table. You will not only help your community’s economy, but also cut pollution when you choose to buy local!
12. Adjust your thermostat. One degree warmer in the summer or one degree cooler in the winter will save your 10% in energy.
13. Turn off the lights. Always turn off the lights when you leave a room!
14. Get green with your lawn care. Choose natural ways for lawn upkeep instead of using pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
15. Recycle your old cell phone. Trying to keep up with cell phone trends? Make sure your recycle your old one to reduce lan
dfill waste.
16. Donate. Before you just throw your unwanted items away, decide if someone else could benefit from your things.
17. Get rid of plastic bags. Plastic bags take hundreds of years to decompose and they pollute our oceans. Make the decision to switch to durable, reusable bags.
18. Pay your bills online. If every American household paid their bills online, we would save 18.5 million trees, and 1.7 billion pounds of solid waste.
19. Go veggie once a week. Not only will you be saving the animals, but you will save water and destroy less land.
20. Choose a better diaper. Whether you choose cloth or a more environmentally friendly disposable diaper, you will help save 3.5 million tons of waste in landfills.
Whether you decide to do a small or bi
g act today, choosing a greener lifestyle will not only benefit your community, but also your wallet. Choose today to be the first day of the rest of your green life.
Are you making the choice to be part of the green economy? Share your story with the United Nations Environment Programme!
How are you volunteering to be greener in your community? We would love for you to share in the comments section below!
Happy Memorial Day! Today is the perfect time for backyard barbecue and busting out your favorite white jeans. Today is also the perfect time to do a little social good for your community.
Did their donation provide a military family in need with a warm meal? However your event benefited the community; let guests know so they have a tangible mission to hold on to.
Memorial Day is this upcoming Monday, May 28. Time to enjoy a day off work, put on your best white attire, and fire up the back yard barbecue. Have you ever wondered why we celebrate Memorial Day?
veteran relief and safety education. The American Red Cross also expanded their services to disaster victim relief and services.
These accomplishments would not be possible without the 131 years of American Red Cross existence. May 21 is the day to celebrate the birthday of such an amazing volunteer organization. Take a minute to thank your local Red Cross chapter for the all the work they do.
Today’s blog post comes from Frank Miller, a civil engineer. In honor of National Ride Your Bike to Work Day, he shares his story. Since choosing to ride his bike 11 years ago, Frank has ridden over 50,000 miles.
communities are examples that change is possible.
I have been an avid bike commuter for the past 11 years, and before that, an avid rider of mass transit. In the summer of 2001, I was looking for an exercise to replace running. A coworker (who was an avid cyclist) suggested that I consider cycling to work. He reasoned I could “kill two birds with one stone” – cycle to work for the exercise and avoid the bus ride too. I tried it and I have been a bike commuter ever since.
commuting. These people and the communities promoting cycling and alternative transit are the examples showing us that it is possible to change our habits; change that is good for ourselves and our planet.
1 in 4 Americans-nearly 60 million people-live with common and treatable mental health disorders. Check out these 5 easy ways you can volunteer during mental health month.
Fight the Stigma: Become A StigmaBuster! 
Do you choose to ride a bike instead of commuting in a car? If your answer is “yes,” this month is for you. May is 
as T-shirts, gift certificates, water bottles, etc.
g has many benefits for the community. It is an easy way to volunteer to improve the environment and your community’s overall health.
the project around that.
Your garden will be a great way to celebrate the month of May while improving your community’s overall well being. Gardens contribute to a better ecosystem, overall.
celebrating non-traditional artistic expression, and is located right along Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The Museum’s celebration of innovative perspective and accessibility made it a fitting backdrop for Schmitz’ message (and his book with the same title): Everyone Leads.
nonprofits and communities that need them most. BVU serves as the primary resource for recruiting, developing and organizing volunteers in the Greater Baltimore area. 
to your career resume. You can also find many webinar resources on our website! Register for the above webinars by clicking on the webinar titles.
