World Environment Day is commemorated each year on 5 June. Here in New Zealand, that's the same day as Arbour Day. It’s one of the main ways that the United Nations encourages worldwide awareness of the environment, as well as political attention and action.
In New Zealand many events happen around the country. One main event is the announcement of the Green Ribbon Awards by the Minister for the Environment and each year a number of Hawke’s Bay projects and people are nominated for this.
Each year, a different country is selected to host World Environment Day, and a new theme is chosen. See the official UN website for more details.
Celebrate with Hawke's Bay Regional Council
Come and celebrate World Environment Day "hands on" with our annual planting week. Each year we spend the week of World Environment Day planting natives with schools, community groups, businesses and residents as part of the Te Karamu restoration project. Everyone's welcome! Just bring a spade, your gumboots and a drink (it's thirsty work). For more information, email restoration@hbrc.govt.nz.
What else can you do?
It sounds simple, but it makes a difference: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (According to MfE, for every tonne of paper we recycle: 26 trees are saved, 5000 litres of water are saved and 5.4 tonnes of CO2 is not released to the atmosphere). Check out the World Environment Day website or sustainability.govt.nz for more tips.
Remember to think globally, act locally, respond personally. Every little bit helps!