Thursday 22-04-2021 - 10:33

By Anna Marshall, Opportunities Officer

It’s Earth Day 2021, the 51st annual day of international climate action. We’re asking you to grab a pen and paper and stick up a poster in your window this week for Earth Day – check out the banner at the SU and at Cuth’s if you need inspiration!

Over the past 51 years, we’ve seen the environmental movement shift and change from personal to international: from the horror of realising harmful chemicals were being put in our foods, to discussing the disproportionate impact of climate change on the Global South. From “Hug a Tree” to “Climate Justice”, we’ve come a long way and the environmental movement is still gaining momentum, having now become something most mainstream organisations are keen to be on the right side of. 

But talking about the environment is different to climate action. As individuals, the power we have is mostly limited to changing our personal lifestyle and talking about the crisis, to spread the message and engage others. For businesses and institutions like Durham University, we have to ask for more. The focus cannot just be on talking or personal behaviour. We have seen how environmentalism is an issue our generation believe in, but we have also seen how companies pander to this by saying they care – and our good faith assumes this means they are acting. It’s not just about caring, it’s about prioritising – once it’s a priority, it’s about hiring someone to make it a purpose.

Many grad jobs I’ve seen lately are blatant manifestations of environmentalism becoming a game of eco point-scoring. Looking for jobs in environmentalism will lead you to roles such as “Marketing and Sustainability” – a clear nod to the real motive behind much of the chatter you’ll hear from big companies. Is a business promoting sustainable action ever doing so for non-marketing purposes? Perhaps not.

Durham University has just been placed at 87th in the THE Impact Rankings. This is a good starting point for further change, as the sector as a whole has been falling short of its green promises. A hidden irony in sustainability work is how much time is spent applying for awards rather than actually taking action. Currently only a handful of universities are prioritising the sustainable development goals – Durham’s SDG group has made good progress on this, but the institution is yet to integrate the goals into all faculties and colleges. If corporations are feeling compelled to call themselves environmentalists, the power we have as consumers is to hold them to it. Yes, they may have originally only said it for marketing purposes, but now they’ve said it, we want to see them do it. 

How does this relate to Earth Day? Earth Day is traditionally a day of pledge-making. This year’s theme is Restore Our Earth. At this point, you probably know the personal habits environmentalists want you to change in order to restore our earth. If changing your diet to be more plant-based is something you think your body can deal with, then of course eating meat-free on Mondays or cutting out red meat would be an excellent pledge. But to me the message of this Earth Day is on collective action and restoration. “Restore” to me is a radical word to be emphasising here –  we don’t want green growth, we want a restoration of what was there before. Taking the example of Durham University –  do we want more expansion or just more buildings that might have solar panels bolted on? No, we want to look at our estates and work out where we can be restoring habitats and revitalising our ecosystem. We want sustainability – what we have now, or maybe less, but done so in a permanent, stable manner which has minimal impact on the environment, rather than continual rapid growth. 

Environmental action often means greater upfront costs, more nuanced approaches and very often it’s a decision to stop doing things rather than make money. We want to see how our institutions are prioritising sustainability over profit. Of course, in the long term, it would be far more profitable to be stopping global temperature increase and having stronger habitats, but in the short term this means a more expensive approach. We want a campus that has net zero carbon emissions: we want ethically sourced catering, we want waste-free freshers’ fairs and we want academics to avoid flying for business trips. In short: we want action.

So with this in mind, here are some pledge suggestions:

• Letter-writing to MPs, County Councillors, University executives and businesses. Sometimes it’s as simple as getting in touch to tell them you care about this issue. Sometimes it’s good to respond to decisions they’re facing or actions they’re taking and let them know your thoughts.
• Ask your landlord if you can build a hedgehog friendly garden and get involved in the Hedgehog friendly campus campaign using this template letter!
• Sign up for an environmental-focussed group e.g. ECO DU, Greenspace, Friends of the earth, RSPB, 38 degrees mailing list etc. This can either be on a national level or a local level, but even if you don’t become a member, newsletters such as these can be a really good way to find out what’s happening. They can keep you informed of anything you can do like petition-signing or retweeting.
• Commit to posting monthly on social media for Fridays for Future. Follow @fridaysforfuture on social media, and post a picture or a comment every month. This is a good way to not only hold yourself to account, but also to encourage others to think about the climate crisis even when it’s not in the media
• Talk to your university department about environmental changes. Whatever groups or companies you’re a part of, raising your voice as a stakeholder can be really powerful, and often you’ll be best placed to notice small changes that could be easily made. You can use Durham SU’s reporting tool to flag any specific issues or just send your department an email
• Ask your local café if customers can use reusable containers for coffees/takeaway food. Shopping local is more likely to reduce your food miles and allow flexibility in reusable containers.

We cannot do this alone, so Earth Day is a great day to show the strength of our community and our common desire for environmental change. Tag us at @durham.su and use the hashtag #EarthDay2021