Earth Day

Earth Day, celebrated on Thursday, April 22, is a day to show support for environmental protection and sustainability. As climate activists and scientists have made it clear in the past few years, the need for environmental protection and climate action is more dire than ever. 2020 was the hottest year on record, and environmental disasters such as the winter storm in Texas, the fires in California and Australia, and the hurricanes in the southeast have made it clear that climate change is here.

But what can you do? Activism for sustainability over the past few years has framed climate change as an us problem, and that we need to work to cut down our carbon footprint and use less plastic straws in order to save our planet. However, when you boil it down, the issue of climate change is not a us the consumers problem, but rather a them the corporations problems. In fact, 71% of emissions are caused by just 100 corporations. But although the power to change the course of climate change isn’t in the hands of the consumer but rather the government and corporations, there are still things you can do to make sure your actions aren’t supporting the destruction of our planet.

1. Don’t shop from Amazon

Amazon is one of the biggest retailers in the world. In fact, 1 in 3 Americans has a Prime membership and every hour, Amazon makes $17 million. But while ordering a package on Monday and having it delivered to your doorstop on Tuesday morning is, for some, the epitome of convenience, it comes with a price. In 2018 alone, Amazon had a carbon emission of 44.4 million metric tons, greater than the carbon footprint of Switzerland. And while Amazon has made promises, quite ambitious ones at that, to reduce their carbon emissions and go use 100% renewable energy by 2030, they’re often nothing more than marketing tactics.

Amazon Web Services still goes after and sells its services to the oil and gas industry, an investigation in 2019 found that only 12% of Amazon’s cloud infrastructure was run on renewable energy, and the list goes on.

Not only that, but Amazon severely mistreats their workers. It suppresses all workers’ events to unionize, and treats its workers like machines, multiple reports comparing them to sweatshops.

While boycotting Amazon and the dozens of companies it owns is nearly impossible, you can making a conscious effort to support smaller businesses instead of helping Amazon monopolize itself even further.

2. Buy fairtrade chocolate

The chocolate industry contributes to the deforestation of rainforests, contributes to climate change, and often uses slave and child labor to farm cocoa. The chocolate industry emits 2 million metric tons of carbon every year, the equivalent of a big city. In addition, it takes 1,000 liters of water to produce a single chocolate bar. An ingredient in chocolate, palm oil, is notorious for driving the orangutan and other animals near extinction, displacing indigenous people, and destroying rainforests.

By contrast, fairtrade chocolate is a type of chocolate that is farmed ethically with the intention of being more sustainable. Fairtrade companies empower their farmers, especially women, to become more sustainable, as well as guarantees them a safety net. Many farmers often choose cheaper and more damaging agricultural practices to make ends meet, so by empowering them and providing them with a safety net, fairtrade companies are able to make cocoa farming more sustainable. As well, to market themselves as fairtrade, companies have to avoid using harmful chemicals, manage waste, protect biodiversity, reduce their emissions, and more.

If you’d like to start purchasing fairtrade, here are a couple companies that are certified fairtrade companies.

3. Eat less meat

The dairy and meat industry is one of the biggest polluters of our environment. Meat and dairy accounts for 14.5% of greenhouse emissions, cows being the biggest polluters. A simple way to curb your personal carbon emissions is to cut down on your meat consumption, especially with beef.

Although your own impact in any of these actions might not solve climate change by itself, these are examples of small actions that are a stepping stone to leading a more sustainable, ethical life that you can easily take this Earth Day.