First founded in 1970, Earth Day was meant to seize the power of education through campus-wide teach-ins to spark conversation, engage local communities and inform change, focusing on environmental issues. Today, the day is widely recognised as the largest observance globally, marked by billions of people as a day of action to change human behaviour, provoke policy changes that focus on the environment. 

Companies are joining the movement 

In the past, Earth Day was greatly recognised and done by many communities. Today, businesses are joining the bandwagon to take part in the movement and adopt them as part of the corporate responsibility program. The celebration is also a good opportunity for businesses to raise environmental awareness and support initiatives to reduce, reuse, and recycle. 

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Microsoft, for example, launched a pilot program of sustainability captains to support the Earth Day movement. The program focused on a range of environmental issues and solving them by enabling “green teams” in implementing in-house initiatives, including working with facilities on lighting and heating issues, running brown-bag lunch presentations on green topics and educating co-workers one-on-one. 

Things to do to join the movement 

Not only can Earth Day be utilised to help the environment, but employers can also use it as a way to help employees appreciate and get involved more in the community, boosting their life wellness and wellbeing. Here are some five ideas to start: 

• Start an outdoor cleanup movement. It is an easy way to help employees spend more time outdoors, providing opportunities for social engagement and healthier lifestyle. 
• Build an eco-friendly office. Recycle, reuse, and reduce are the most common ways employers can do to spread eco-friendly awareness around the office. Employers can have recycling stations, posters encouraging employees to reuse and reduce, or some challenges that can address excessive use of objects that are hard to recycle. 
• Hold an on-site event. You can host a learning fair, educational session, or other events that can help build familiarity with how your brand does green. It can also get your employees and communities think about the simple steps they can take to make an impact on the world.
• Create a “green team” and recognise their effort. Learn from Microsoft that creates a green team and tasks them with ways to reduce the company’s carbon footprint and educate their colleagues on ways to conserve company’s energy. 
• Recognise environmental friendly achievement. Many individuals are already familiar with environmentally friendly practices. So, why not recognise your employee’s achievement and have employee-of-the-month for being the most environmentally friendly. This might encourage other employees to embrace the movement. 

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