Here are just some suggestions to help you organise, get involved in and to celebrate World Environment Day:

1. Take the “What’s Your Next Step?” – Sustainability Challenge. Adopt a sustainable way of life with lots of useful ideas and actions to help you play your part in enhancing the New Zealand way of life – go to www.sustainability.govt.nz now!
2. Ask your local council if you can help clean-up your local area or plant trees.
3. Undertake a community awareness campaign or project to reduce household consumption – eg replace light-bulbs with energy saving ones, switch off stand-by electrical appliances such as TVs and computers when not in use, check insulation and water heating options, encourage household rainwater harvesting, vegetable gardening or self-sufficiency.
4. Promote ideas to reduce, re-use and recycle waste. Maybe even hold an event to make art from recycled material.
5. Encourage others to use sustainable modes of transport (walking, jogging, cycling, skating, public transport, carpool) for a day.
6. Hold a bicycle or walking parade or organise a walking school bus.
7. Organise a visit to nature sites, botanical gardens or other sites of environmental interest.
8. Hold an art competition or exhibition and ask others to create and show banners, drawings, essays, paintings, posters or poetry that promote the Kick the Carbon Habit theme.
9. Organise community performances of plays, songs or poetry that promote the Kick the Carbon Habit theme.
10. Hold an eco-fair or festival or ask local retailers to put in window displays that promote the Kick the Carbon Habit theme.
11. Undertake an awareness campaign in your community to offset your greenhouse gas emissions – see www.carbonzero.co.nz.

Think of other activities that have high participation, raise public awareness and have a legacy or sustainable outcome that will mean the most to your community.

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