National Wildlife Day is Sept 4, 2021. It’s a chance to turn our attention to the natural world, and the ways we can preserve it.
There are three great ways to observe National Wildlife Day:
- Get out into the wilderness closest to you by going on a hike.
- Support those conservation groups working year-round by making a donation.
- Taking it upon yourself to pick up trash, or work with local non-profit organizations, to keep the area around your home clean for our animal friends.
By supporting global plastic, water, energy and carbon projects, we’re working towards a healthier environment not only for humans, but for our precious wildlife as well.
A smaller carbon footprint
Often, when we think about ways to decrease our carbon footprint, we think about how we’re cleaning up the air. This is true, but the work also helps the animals. Cleaner air is better for everyone, them included. The carbon we put into the air can make it harder to breathe. It can exacerbate certain health conditions. Additionally, it may contribute to the melting of our polar ice caps. This in turn impacts the ecosystems of our penguins, polar bears, and myriad of sea life.
In Montréal, for example, ODS Recovery & Destruction is keeping contaminates from leaking long-term into our atmosphere by destroying ozone-depleting substance (ODS), which is used as a refrigerant.
Cleaner water
Our planet has a finite amount of water, so how we care for it is not only important when it comes to pouring a big glass to drink, but also for hydrating every animal that calls Earth home. We all drink water. We all need clean water. And, for the animals that live in water, they especially deserve a clean ecosystem.
There are even water projects out there working in ways we might not think of. In central Oregon, the Deschutes River Conservancy is helping restore over 115 cubic feet per second of water flow to the Middle Deschutes River. These efforts will help maintain a healthy ecosystem for all the wildlife in the area, and an increase in populations of Red-Band trout are already being observed.
Less plastic
There’s no way to talk about plastic without visualizing its impact on wildlife. There’s the image of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck up its nose. There’s the duck with a six-pack can ring dangling around its neck. There are fishermen pulling plastic waste from the stomachs of their most recent catches. Ocean-bound plastic is perhaps one of the most immediate issues our wildlife face today.
The best way to keep plastic away from wildlife is to decrease our reliance on it, and second to take out what’s already there; Plastic Bank is doing just that. Setting up branches around the world, members remove plastic from the environment and stop it from reaching our oceans. IMPACT COLLECTIVE partners are specifically working with the 32 branches throughout Haiti, where the equivalent of 126 million plastic bottles worth of ocean-bound plastic has already been taken out of circulation and recycled.
Alternative energy
Transitioning away from being dependent on a single energy source can help reduce our heavy reliance on fossil fuels. It can open the door to the potential for infinite, renewable energy courses like solar and wind, but also unconventional sources like corn and hemp.
From the Camilla Solar Plant in Georgia to the Buffalo Dunes Wind Project in Kansas, we’re harnessing the energy from the sun and wind to explore the use of cleaner options. Big Sky Dairy Digester, in Idaho, is even using manure in a waste-to-energy project. You never know where a feasible, alternative energy supply will come from.
Working in all areas to improve ecosystems
IMPACT COLLECTIVE connects its partners with organizations like these to offset carbon, plastic, energy, and water because we believe there is no effort too small to save our environment. With the combined participation of all our partners, we collectively do our part to help communities and ecosystems the world over.
Although National Wildlife Day is one day of awareness, we strive to make every day about conservation, restoration, and preservation. You can learn more about our partners, their products, and their environmental efforts here.