Featured Solution

Plant Native Species

Large scale farming with a lack of conservation or Indigenous tenures has had a severe strain on the land sinks that exist across the world. Shifting agricultural practices to small, local scales that use sustainable farming techniques have the potential to sink ~ 8-12 Gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere. One way you can support this EARTH element solution is to start a garden at home or in your community and, using sustainable techniques, plant some native species. Bonus points if they are food bearing so that you can support the local food systems in your community as well! Native plant species are plants that occur naturally in a region. These plants evolved to the environmental conditions of the region and the local wildlife evolved alongside these plants. They improve the health of local ecosystems! (SDG 15 Life On Land)

One Step: Identify Plants At Home

Identify the plants you have at home using a plant identifying app, Google, or a good old-fashioned book. Identify if they are a good plant to support your ecosystem, or if they should be removed.  You can Google search the plants that are native to your city/country.

Featured Solution

Learn How to Be Energy Efficient

Over 60% of the electricity we use is created by the burning of fossil fuels. The gasses released by this burning are pollutants and greenhouse gases, which trap heat in our atmosphere and warm it. Fossil fuel extraction also involves other environmental issues like groundwater contamination, oil spills, and habitat destruction. Although renewable energy is slowly becoming more widespread, there is still a lot of progress to be made. In the meantime, let’s leave fossils in the past where they belong – Pick one of these solutions to commit to being more energy efficient:

• Turn off lights and gadgets when leaving a room. Unplugging chargers saves energy too!
• Reduce heating and cooling use – Throw on a sweater if it’s just a bit chilly!
• Close exterior doors to prevent cold/warm air leaving your home, which puts more strain on your air conditioning
• Switch the lightbulbs in your home with LED light bulbs
• Wash laundry with cold water and hang your clothes to dry – the average clothes dryer uses more electricity than a refrigerator!
• Take shorter showers and avoid running the water when you’re not actively using it. Conserving water means less energy is used to treat, pump, and heat the water.
• Avoid leaving the refrigerator door open!

Environmental Conservation (SDG 13 – Climate Action): Teaching kids about energy efficiency fosters an understanding of the impact of energy consumption on the environment. By adopting energy-saving habits like turning off lights when not in use, unplugging electronics, and conserving water, children contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, thus supporting efforts to combat climate change.

One Step: Be a Responsible Consumer

When we are energy efficient, we become more responsible as consumers of that energy. By using resources wisely, we build a more sustainable life for ourselves and for people in the future. (SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production)

Featured Solution

Reduce, Reuse, REFUSE, and Upcycle

Plastic is often the center of the conversation of waste. But there is a new industry that is creating a serious problem from production to disposal: Fast Fashion. The quick turnover of clothing trends has created a fashion industry that pushes out mass amount of clothes, produced with polluting materials and slave labor, with little to no accountability for what happens after the piece goes out of style. Circular Economy banks on taking things that have already been produced, and repurposing them to extend their lifecycle. Do you ever think about what happens when you are done with something? Recycling is something that you can do with more than just paper and plastics. (SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production)

One Step: Refuse Fast Fashion

REFUSE the waste of fast fashion by writing a letter to a fast fashion brand that has a store in your community. Post your letter on PlaneteerHQ, social media, and any other platform to get your message out there. Leverage your social currency, and make more than a fashion statement with the brands you support and the clothes you wear!

Featured Solution

Become a Water Guardian

While the majority of planet Earth is water, only about 3.5% of that is freshwater, and of that freshwater only .3% of that is found in our rivers and lakes. That makes freshwater one of the most precious ecosystems that humans should protect. Water is life for all organisms on the planet, and it is crucial to protect the rights to clean water for all people. No matter where you are in the world, you can have an impact on the freshwater of somebody who is thousands of miles away from you. Arm yourself with the knowledge of where your water comes from and what you can do to protect it. (SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation)

First Step: Learn About Watersheds

Learn about what a watershed is. You can find out about where your water comes from, where it goes, and everything that is downstream of you. Think about this next time you decide to flush something that doesn’t belong in the toilet. 

Featured Solution

Use Art to Express and Inspire

You cannot separate people from the planet. Climate and environmental issues are having the biggest impact on people who are not responsible for the climate crisis, such as BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth. As the future stewards of the planet, Planeteers are inhabiting a world where they didn’t create the problem but still are innovating solutions. This can be an emotional journey filled with rage, anxiety and even joy. The most important thing you can do as a Planeteer is put yourself first. Try this HEART Element activity to express the feelings of being a climate activist. 

ACTION: ARTIVISM CHALLENGE: Use visual, written, or musical art to express an environmental justice issue in your community → use this as a way to subvert climate anxiety and show the strength and power of art in the climate justice movement. Post this to HQ and tell us your climate story. 

First Step: Learn About Environmental Justice

Environmental justice aims to address disparities in access to environmental resources and exposure to environmental hazards. By creating art about environmental issues in your community/the world and how it affects the people living there, you start conversations centered on how to make life more environmentally equitable for all.