7 Sustainable Ways to Celebrate Earth Day 2023

28 January 1969

Platform A (Union Oil), Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field. Southern California

6 miles out at sea

A shortcut by Union Oil, proved a catastrophe for the environment, and a catalyst for the largest environmental movement on the planet.

Union Oil’s fifth well in the Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field was situated in federal waters off the beautiful Southern Californian coastline. A governmental waiver permitted Union Oil to install only 239 feet of protective casing below the ocean floor, instead of the standard 300 feet.

Oil began pooling, a black, tarry slick on the surface. Pressure prompted a blowout on the fourteenth day of drilling, overwhelming the safety systems and jetting mud 90 feet above the platform’s floor. Despite desperately trying to staunch the oil flow, the sea was bubbling. The blowout broke the sea bed. Natural gas and oil was spewing through fissures in the ocean floor.

For eleven days, oil escaped at a rate of almost 9,000 gallons an hour. By the time the leakage was stopped, nearly three million gallons of oil had spread more than 35 miles, an area nearly the size of Chicago.

Thousands of birds were killed, and unknown numbers of marine animals. It took several days to reach the shores of Santa Barbara. It turned the beaches black.

It ranked as the worst oil spill in the country’s history.

US Senator Gaylord Nelson, is credited with founding Earth Day, in the aftermath of the spill.

Earth Day was launched as a way to teach environmentalism and protest against the negative aspects of industrialisation. Its launch coincided with rising public concern about the environment, and Earth Day grew to become a global environmental movement.

It led to the creation of landmark environmental laws and the Environmental Protection Agency. Soon after the first Earth Day, the US passed the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.

More than a billion people worldwide now take part in marches, petitions and clean-ups to protect the environment – making it the largest civic observance in the world.

How to do Earth Day

The Earth Day 2023 theme is “Invest in our Planet“. It’s been designed to persuade governments, businesses and citizens around the world of the need to invest in our planet. Without that investment, we can’t improve our environment. Without that investment, we can’t provide a better and safer future for the generations to come.

All around the world, people are doing things to benefit the environment. From recycling to reducing your carbon footprint, it’s easy to get involved.

Get ready for the big event. It promises to be the best one ever.

Here are seven sustainable and eco-friendly ways you can celebrate Earth Day in 2023.

1. The magnificent seven

Producing recycled paper uses up to 70% less energy consumption than virgin paper. It also uses less water. Most of the energy used in paper production is in the pulping process, and as paper can be recycled back into paper as many as seven times, it’s easy to see why eco-friendly printers will always use recycled paper, wherever possible.

Follow the paper trail, from forest to print.

2. It’s a wrap!

Switching to paper-based packaging to protect your products from breakage can be effective and cost-saving for both the packaging distributer, and the end-consumer. Paper-based product materials are lightweight, helping to keep both shipping costs and CO2 emissions as low as possible.

Making the switch to paper packaging products is easy. Simply using a paper bag or a cardboard box for your products is all it takes to make a sustainable choice. Using paper mailing bags and carrier bags, rather than plastic or polythene, is cost and climate-friendly. Customers will also like it too.

Find out more about paper packaging.

3. Forest friends

Since 2010, EARTHDAY.ORG has planted tens of millions of trees across the globe in partnership with The Canopy Project. It has also conducted tree planting in the wake of environmental disasters. Some of the world’s communities most at-risk from climate change and environmental degradation are benefiting from reforesting.

Galloways uses paper and paper packaging that bear the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) Chain of Custody Certification. The FSC unites people, businesses, governments and NGOs worldwide, to protect healthy, resilient forests for all, forever. FSC’s sustainable forestry standards translate into actions that make a positive impact on the world’s forests.

The FSC is a revolutionary concept: a voluntary, market-based approach that will improve forestry practices worldwide. Choose Galloways for your print, and you’ll be supporting sustainably managed forests.

4. Waste not

Print can be a wasteful business. That’s why we’re committed to minimising waste throughout the printing process.

Galloways’ print portal allows you to remotely order branded marketing collateral through a secure and stable web-interface. It’s accessible from anywhere, at anytime. It’s user-friendly, and because you can order exactly what you need, it’s eco-friendly. Find out more about the benefits of our web2print offering, Galloways Portal [link to article].+

5. Power rangers

Electrical equipment uses power, even in stand-by mode. It might not equate to a lot, each item, but if you add them together – TV, DVD, smart speakers, chargers, ovens, white goods – that’s a fair amount of electricity you’ve used. This is particularly important in business, where the effect is multiplied.

Every digital interaction has a carbon footprint. Carbon dioxide is emitted due to the energy needed for digital devices and the wireless networks we use. The internet requires power-hungry servers to support it. According to the BBC, each one of us is responsible for 414 kg (912 lbs) of carbon dioxide from digital technologies alone each year. A typical tree can absorb around anywhere between 10 and 40 kg of carbon each year. That means each of us would need to plant at least 10, and as many as 40 trees, each year.

Galloways is proud to partner with The World Land Trust organisation. To date, the Carbon Balanced Print and Paper programme has enabled WLT to offset more than 250,000 tonnes of CO2. Our World Land Trust Carbon Balanced Certification is just one part of our strategy to reduce our environmental impact. Find out more about our eco-friendly printing service.

6. World cleanup day

National and World Cleanup Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in September and brings together people worldwide to clean up and care for their communities. Millions of people participate to make it the biggest waste collection day in human history.

President of earthday.org, Kathleen Rogers, said: “Cleanups are just one-way individuals can get involved to combat this critical issue. Invest In Our Planet means taking action and participating in community measures to help solve the issue of mismanaged waste.”

Join one of the organised cleanup events throughout the UK – indeed the world – as part of Earth Day 2023, or simply do a bit yourself. Find a local cleanup and join the campaign for a waste-free world.

7. Love Local

If you’re ready to join the biggest environmental movement in the world, it’s easy. Enter your postcode in the Earth Day website here and see what events are going on locally.

Let’s make 2023 the best Earth Day ever!