Suspicions of disingenuous ‘virtue signalling’ or ‘green-washing’ often accompany social media posts on Earth Day and Earth Month and we aren’t that surprised at the cynicism. After all, there are plenty of days out there that ask us to pay yet more attention to the climate emergency.
However, it might surprise you to hear that Earth Day started in 1970 as the brainchild of US Senator Gaylord Nelson, and Denis Hayes, a Harvard graduate. In January 1969, American television audiences watched in horror as millions of gallons of crude oil seeped into the ocean off California. The catastrophe really came home when corpses of seals, dolphins washed up on the shores of Santa Barbara accompanied by birdlife drowned in tar. It was a national catastrophe, and something needed to be done.
Nelson and Hayes were the originators of the decision to engage people about the green agenda through a day in the annual calendar. What started as over 20 million people out on the streets in the US in 1970, has today become over one billion people marking the day globally.
And it’s the same for businesses, including businesses like ours. LLC was set up with a commitment to confirm that business can be a cause for good. We wanted to be an integral part of a society making a positive difference. Becoming a B Corp, making our annual financial contribution to 1% For the Planet, publishing our first Impact Report last year and supporting charities such as Trees for Cities, The Felix Project, Healthy Seas, and Borneo Orangutan Survival amongst many others is just the start. We can, and will do more.
This year the theme of Earth Day is planet v’s plastic which aims to raise the harm that plastics can have on our environment and human health. No small task, especially as in the UK we throw away 15 million tonnes of ‘single use’ plastic bottles every day.
We are incredibly proud of all our clients but on this Earth Day, we want to shine a light on LOCI, Dodona Analytics, ManholeMetrics, Ponterra, Inlyte Energy, Robertsbridge and Key ESG amongst others, and their innovative approaches to solving the challenge of our climate emergency.
Contributing to resolving climate change is not optional. Each of us can do something positive to help, however small that may be. We urge you to resolve to do so this Earth Day.
