Every year on 22 April we celebrate Earth Day, a chance for everyone to come together and help protect the environment by learning more about the negative impact climate change has.

Our Girls in Scotland research shows that girls and young women really care about the environment. 95% feel that their lives are affected by climate change. To mark Earth Day 2021, and ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow this November, here are some ways girls can do their bit to save the planet…

UN Sustainable Development Goals Challenge

There are 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that world leaders are committed to achieving by 2030, and there’s a big emphasis on fixing climate change. The SDG Challenge Badge has been designed to help young people learn about the SDGs and encourage them to become the generation that changes the world. Here are some activities from the pack that can be easily adapted whether you’re meeting online or outdoors…

• You can still take on the discussion part of the Goal 12 activity card (Responsible consumption and production). 56% of girls age 11-21 think fast fashion has a negative effect on the environment and this activity card encourages units to think about where their clothes are from, and how they’re made. Then it’s time to come up with an action plan to reduce the amount of waste they produce by buying less new clothes. Why not organise a virtual clothes swap?
• The Goal 13 card called Climate Action offer units the chance to chat about their thoughts on climate change and how we can work together to fight it. This is a great way to get girls to share their thoughts on climate change and chat about the impact it has.

Keep Scotland Beautiful Challenge

The Keep Scotland Beautiful challenge has been created to celebrate and help maintain Scotland’s natural beauty by tackling global environmental issues. There are lots of activities in this challenge pack that girls can do at home with their family, during online meetings or outdoor meetings – from making musical instruments out of junk and designing a poster to share why we should keep our communities litter free to organising a clean-up event with your unit if you’re able to.

The Ocean Challenge badge

Is your unit meeting outside yet? Do you live near a beach? Download the Ocean Challenge pack and head to activity 4.2 which encourages girls to organise and take part in a beach clean. Then activity 4.3 invites girls to create art with some of the litter they gather – this is to get them thinking about the type of litter they found on the beach, why it ended up there and how they can help put a stop more of it washing up on Scottish shorelines.

You can still make your #PlasticPromise!

Did you know that 34% of girls are angry that adults aren’t doing enough to combat climate change? Girlguiding’s #PlasticPromise campaign was created to help tackle plastic pollution because it’s estimated that 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups are thrown away in the UK every year – that’s almost 5,000 a minute, or 7 million per day.

Units can do their bit to help protect the planet by pledging to use less single-use plastic. Anyone can make a #PlasticPromise – here are the five promises to choose from:

• Start using a reusable water bottle
• Start using an alternative to disposable cutlery
• Start using a reusable box or reusable wrapping instead of clingfilm
• Start using a reusable coffee cup
• Stand up and speak out about cutting plastic waste – and make big brands listen

Find out how you can become a Planet Protector here.

Earth Day 2021 badges are available to buy now

To mark Earth Day this year, we’ve created a special badge to help our girls and members share their commitment to this year’s theme of Restore our Earth. Get your hands on one today!