World Environment Day

World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972. It is hosted every year by a different city and commemorated with an international exposition through the week of June 5. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), also created in 1972, uses WED to stimulate awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and public action.

The host for World Environment Day 2008 will be New Zealand, with the main international celebrations scheduled for Wellington. The slogan for 2008 is "CO2, Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy". New Zealand was one of the first countries to pledge to achieve carbon neutrality.

We can all celebrate WED by looking at our own energy consumption and considering ways that we can permanently reduce our carbon footprint on the earth.

Here are just a few ideas:

• Leave your car at home and walk, cycle, use public transit or carpool to work or school instead. Plan your week so that you can run all of your errands on the same day, reducing the need to drive your car every day.

• Do an audit of your personal energy use and try to find ways that you can cut back such as unplugging devices that waste energy even when not in use (such as cell phone chargers or any other device with a light or clock on it). Consider plugging your tv and computer into a power bar and switching that off when they're not in use. Your tv screen wastes lots of energy staying in a state of readiness so that it can quickly come on when the button is pushed. Are a few more seconds waiting for the screen to illuminate really that important?

• Install a programmable thermostat so that you can decrease your energy use during the night and when nobody is home.

• Most unwanted heat in the summer enters your home through east and west facing windows, plant trees to provide shade to these windows. They will also act as a windbreak in the winter reducing heating costs.    

• Install curtains or blinds that block the sunlight and reduce the heating of your home during the summer. Buy ones with an insulated backing to increase heat retention in the winter.

• Check out Bullfrog Power - by paying a small premium on your energy bill, you could be contributing to the success and development of renewable energy sources.

• Buy local food and other products and reduce the energy wasted transporting food across the world. Check out this new map that shows local food producers in our area and the seasons of fruits and vegetables. Take up canning or freezing to provide fruits and vegetables through their off-seasons.

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