Celebrating Earth Day 2021
Thursday, April 22, 2021 marks the 51st Earth Day holiday, a day of education about conservation of the planet, environmental issues, and demonstration of support for environmental protection.
How did Earth Day get started?
Prior to the first Earth Day, there was no EPA, no Clean Air Act, no Clean Water Act, nothing to protect our environment. It was perfectly legal for factories across the country to dump waste into our waters and emit toxic smoke into the air.
In the spring of 1970, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson started a campaign to raise public awareness about air and water pollution. Nelson took action by organizing teach-ins on college campuses to spread the message of the importance of conservationism, pushing for positive change. He further took his idea nationwide by promoting 85 events across the country. In 1990, Earth Day became an officially recognized global celebration, mobilizing over 200 million people in 141 countries.
Today, Earth Day is celebrated by more than one billion people across the globe.
Progressive's Commitment to Our Environment
Progressive, part of SThree plc, is committed to having a hand in building a sustainable future for all. We are proud to support the industries that are working to create a cleaner, healthier world, from solar energy and wind energy companies to manufacturers creating eco-friendly packaging and using ingredients that are sustainably farmed.
Our purpose is to bring skilled people together to build the future. We aim to build a responsible, trustful, and sustainable business that not only makes a positive impact on the communities in which we operate, but transforms them through our collective drive to evoke change for the better.
We believe in offering our employees a career with a purpose. Every SThree employee may use two (five during the Covid-19 pandemic) paid working days per year to volunteer and contribute to our own personal ecosystems. SThree is committed to a minimized environmental impact and works actively to reduce our carbon footprint via annual carbon reporting, identifying our main emission factors, and changing our business practices to influence the behaviors of our people and suppliers.
Ways to Celebrate Earth Day
This year’s theme for Earth Day is “Restore Our Earth.” Earth Day will have three days of action starting on April 20. There are many opportunities to participate, volunteer, or host an in-person or virtual event. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Volunteering on Earth Day
This year, with the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, many Earth Day events are taking place (with proper social distancing and mask requirements) in person.
Join a cleanup day or start your own. A cleanup day is an easy and impactful way to help the environment. Currently, on average, there is over nine billion tons of litter dumped in the world’s oceans annually. Or think of it like this: on average, you only need to take 12 steps outside before you find a piece of trash on the ground.
On Earth Day, combat these statistics and make a plan to clean up litter from beaches, forest reserves, highways, parking lots, and even your own neighborhood. To make it even more fun, post before and after pictures with #GreatGlobalCleanup and tag @EarthDayNetwork to show your support for this global movement!
Other In-Person Ideas
- Join or start a community garden
- Plant a tree with a local arboretum or botanical garden
- Donate hours to an environmental protection organization
Earth Day at Home
Here are some safe, socially distanced activities you can do around your home:
- Donate to local and global conservation efforts. Here's a list of environmental charities you can consider donating to.
- Listen to environmental podcasts, such as The Energy Gang, Podship Earth, and Green Dreamer.
- Watch documentaries focused on climate change, such as 2040 and Our Planet.
- Reduce, reuse and recycle!
