The environment is everything that surrounds us, and it includes living and nonliving things like water, plants, animals, and soil, all of which adapt to their respective surroundings. There are many impressive things to know about the environment, including the need to mark world environment day.
The environment is one of nature’s gifts to humanity, and part of the role that it places is to nourish life on Earth. Our existence on the planet earth is greatly influenced by the environment. In this article, we’ll cover everything you should know about the environment, world environment day, and some of the poster design ideas you might want to try. In addition, we’ve shared free illustrations and clipart about ecology, pollution, protecting the earth, recycling, and other things related to the day. These sources can be downloaded for free and used in commercial projects too.
What to Know About World Environment Day?
While there are many interesting things to know about the environment, it’s also important to be able to appreciate the essence and significance of this day. Basically, World Environment Day is a day that places more emphasis on our protecting our immediate surroundings.
One thing that will interest you is the fact that more than 7 million people in different parts of the world die every day because of environmental issues, particularly air pollution. Another thing to note is that most of the death occurs within the Asia region alone.
World Environment Day is a day that is set aside to encourage global activism, and this was placed on June 5. The day was set aside to focus on everything relating to the environment, including climate changes and everything littering around. In addition to being a day to globally celebrate the environment, it’s also a day for public outreach to emphasize on the environment even better.
In 2019, the event was hosted by China, and the country was able to show has it has been able to effectively manage air pollution domestically. The country was also able to urge other countries to pay attention to their environment and ensure it’s protected.
Brief History of World Environment Day
You might already be wondering when people start to mark world environment day. Today, this is one of the most special and most unique holidays that people mark, and it’s because of its historical relevance.
World Environment Day was created on the first day of the first UN conference that focused on humanity and our interaction with the environment. Despite how it started, it’s worth noting that it didn’t all start in one night.
There were suggestions from different countries, and individuals, with Sweden being the first to suggest that there should be a day set aside to have a conference on humanity and its interaction with the environment. This suggestion was as far back as 1968. The UN agreed the next year that there would be a conference in Sweden three years after, and the focus would be on handling environmental issues.
Another key thing to note is that Maurice Strong led this conference. This is someone who has worked many years in the oil and mineral industry and is supportive of maintaining the environment.
In 1972, different world leaders came together to talk about how they could create awareness and ensure that everyone was committed to protecting the environment. This was the time when World Environment Day was made, and the first-ever World Environment Day was celebrated two years later. The celebration at that time had the slogan (Only One Earth)
From that time to date, people in different parts of the world now recognize World Environment Day, and it’s now becoming a part of different cultures. Even celebrities today now recognize the need to be protective of the environment and the need to do this in their own way.
Examples of celebrities who talk about environmental awareness a lot are Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio. This implies that everyone needs to maintain a solid ground when it comes to our environment and protecting it. Also, you don’t have to wait until the next World Environment Day before you start to adopt the policy of maintaining the environment.
Overview of the World Environment Day Timeline
Here’s a quick overview of the world environment day timeline:
The birth of the idea: In 1968, Sweden came up with the idea of holding UN conferences with a focus on the environment and humanity.
First UN Environmental Conference: In 1972, Maurice Strong led the first UN conference, which focused on human overpopulation, global warming, and marine pollution.
Dream Debut: In 1974, the first World Environment Day was marked in Washington
China Host World Environment Day: In 2019, China created awareness about the need to focus on the environment because millions are dying as a result of environmental pollution.
One thing to note about World Environment Day is that it’s marked differently in different parts of the world today.
Here’s an overview of how it is done in some countries:
India: The holiday is called National Energy Conservation Day in India, and the occasion is aimed at emphasizing on energy resources and sustainable methods of conservation. This event is held on December 14 every year.
Japan: In Japan, the holiday is called Greenery Day, and it’s a day that is set aside to celebrate nature and its blessing to us. The day is celebrated on May 4 every year.
New Zealand: In New Zealand, it’s called eDay, and it’s a day that initially started as a campaign, but now it’s aimed at handling the problems that result from electronic waste. It’s important to note that the exact date for this celebration is subject to change.
Russia: In Russia, it is known as the Day of Protected Areas, and it’s marked to celebrate, honor, and appreciate reserves, national parks, and other similarly important regions, especially those that focus on restoring nature and preserving the diverse nature of our ecosystem. Day of Protected Areas is usually marked on January 11.
Tradition of World Environment Day
The most pressing issues that brought about the World Environment Day are the need to maintain a protected and sustainable environment. Everything about life is from mother nature, but we have taken this for granted for many years. World Environment Day seeks to encourage everyone to cooperate today and take conscious efforts to maintain the environment.
Every year, there’s always a theme to mark World Environment Day, and the celebration is usually based on that theme. Also, it’s usually accompanied by different events and exhibitions, all of which are aimed at creating a platform to educate people on the need to maintain a sustainable environment.
Interesting Statistics
Here are some interesting statistics that you’ll like:
The amount of resources extracted from the Earth every year is more than 90 billion tons
The Earth’s population is more than 7.8 billion
There are more than 4 billion consumers in the world
The expected number of consumers in the world by 2030 is about 6 billion
Only about 70% of the world’s resources are being overused today
The Earth generates more than 2.12 billion tons of waste dump every year
E-waste that is produced every year is up to 50 million tons
The value of synthetic chemicals produced yearly is worth about $8 trillion
It’s expected that by 2050, the population of the world will be too big to feed
It’s also expected that coral reefs will be gone by 2070
These are only some of the interesting statistics about the environment that you should be aware of.
How to Observe World Environment Day
It goes beyond just knowing about the environment or world environment day. You also need to know how to observe this day the right way and what you should do. Here are some of the interesting ways you can observe World Environment Day:
Be committed to recycling
This may seem to be the most obvious way anyone would want to celebrate environment day, but it’s important for one to be able to maintain a positive attitude towards recycling. You can start by ensuring that you always trash things appropriately, even if you don’t have access to a recycle bin.
Develop the habit of always checking whether what you are disposing of is biodegradable. The aim is to be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Plant more trees
Another thing that you might want to consider trying is to plant more trees. Remember that trees play a vital role in absorbing pollutant gases and odors. Examples of these gases are ozone, sulfur dioxide, ammonia, and nitrogen oxides. Trees also help in filtering particles in the air, and they do this by trapping these particles on their bark and leaves.
When planting a tree, it’s also important to be able to do this strategically. For example, when you place them around a single home, it will help to significantly cut the amount of summer air that comes in. This will also help to reduce your air conditioning needs significantly.
Another thing to note is that when you reduce the energy demand in your home, you also effectively reduce the amount of carbon dioxide pollution that your power plant emits.
Volunteer
Another thing that you might want to consider on World Environment Day is to volunteer with the aim of making a difference in your community. The idea is to get out of your comfort zone and volunteer for different National Part Services or for any other purpose. Regardless of how you decide to participate, you can rest assured that you’ll feel the positive impact it would leave on your environment.
Create Impressive Designs For World Environment Day
The next thing that you might want to consider trying is to play around with different designs that you can post on your website or social media platforms. This is the part where you’ll need a library with different designs so you can draw all the design ideas you need.
The interesting thing is that there are currently different libraries that you might want to consider using to get these resources. However, we recommend that you use illustAC for all the World Environment Day poster design ideas that you want.
On illustAC, you’ll find different poster designs from some of the best designers in the world today. You can decide to use these designs as they are presented on the website or use the editing tool provided to change these designs and also make them appear visually appealing and unique.
One interesting thing that you should note is that all the designs we have included in this article are from illustAC, and this is only to give you an idea of what you can expect from illustAC.
Other Interesting Facts You Should Know
To wrap up, let us look at some more interesting facts about environment day. They include the following:
Solar Panels: In China, you’ll find the largest solar farm, and this is capable of providing up to 1 billion watts. It’s the Yanchi Ningxia solar park.
The Ocean Cleanup: This is led by a 22-year-old and also backed with about $30 million. The company utilizes u-shaped screens to clear out garbage dumped into the ocean.
CO2 Vacuum Cleaner: This was invented in 2016 in Switzerland, and the machine is designed to clean the air we breathe by capturing CO2.
Eco-FriendlyBatteries: Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden led the development of these batteries using enhanced aluminum
Plant-Based Plastic: An Indonesian company developed this from agricultural waste like sugarcane and corn.
Conclusion
We hope we have been able to cover all you need to know about World Environment Day and also show you where you can get all the design ideas to use on this day. The most important thing that you should always have at the back of your mind is that you don’t need to wait until this day before you stay conscious of preserving the environment. Every day is the right time to treat the environment appropriately and keep it sustainable.
