Earth Day activities confined to yards

(CNS): Earth Day activities in Cayman this year will be restricted to people’s yards, and the start of a regional mass tree planting campaign will be confined to preparing seedlings and compost ready for when the curfews are lifted. But the first silver lining to come from the COVID-19 pandemic is the breather it has given the environment. All over the world on Earth Day 2020 there is a reduction in pollution and a reemergence of wildlife.

Established at the dawn of the modern environmental movement in 1970, Earth Day is marking its 50th anniversary this year and was intended to educate people about the fact that humans were polluting and damaging the planet.

Fifty years on, this year’s theme is “climate action”, but in an ironic twist the coronavirus has taken its own climate action and has led to a significant visible and breathable reduction in air pollution. This year’s carbon emissions are expected to drop by 5%.

Not even the most avid environmental campaigners wanted the clean-up to happen this way, but it has nevertheless served to demonstrate how much of an impact humanity has on the environment, how quickly the environment improves when human activity changes, as well as the magnitude of the problem we face.

Activists are now asking whether things will simply return to the way they were when the pandemic is over or whether this will serve as a real catalyst for change.

Here in Cayman, activists are doing what they can to remind people about the environmental challenges we still face. However, there has been some good news for the environment here, with Cabinet accepting the much-needed mangrove protection plan and shelving the cruise project, which had posed a massive threat to our marine environment.

But obviously there will be no demonstrations or major activities here this year to mark Earth Day and the campaigns will be using social media to remind people that there is still much work to be done to protect this planet.

Given the need to shelter in place to avoid spreading the coronavirus, the National Trust is asking people to dig out t-shirts they may have from Earth Days over the years and mark the occasion today with a photo of themselves holding a piece of paper with #Earthday to post on social media and tag the Trust on @nationaltrustcayman on Instagram and
@nationaltrustforthecaymanislands on Facebook.

On Saturday the Trust and the Chamber of Commerce are partnering for an Earth Month at home clean-up, when people are being encouraged to remove rubbish and debris from their yards, gardens and immediate neighbourhood during the 90 minute exercise period, while respecting safe social distancing and curfew requirements.

Once again people are asked to share their trash collecting moments with others on the social media platforms.

The curfew has made the launch of the Cayman Tree Planting Project very challenging. This will be part of a regional programme to plant more than one million trees in the Caribbean by next June. However, Protect Our Future, a group of students spearheading the local environmental movement, has begun an online campaign and to inspire people to take action on their own property.

Given the lockdown, it is difficult for people to get physically involved but it is a time when people can begin composting and preparing seedlings that can be planted in the coming months.

Environmental experts all agree that planting trees is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to take carbon out of the atmosphere to attack the climate crisis. When trees grow, they absorb and store carbon dioxide emissions. Trees can also provide communities with a local food source and food security.

For more information on the Caribbean Tree planing Project, visit the Facebook page here.