It’s no secret that our planet is under serious threat from human activity. In our ‘Save the Planet’ articles we try to draw attention to topics related to the environment and how we can reduce our negative impact on it. Now we’d like to highlight to you the campaigns and petitions being actioned all over the world that are trying to help our planet and its inhabitants.

Sadly, money is a big driver in making changes to what’s happening to our planet, and many people can’t afford to donate to causes or campaigns. However, a signature, pledge for action or raising awareness can have just as much impact as a monetary donation in many cases. If everyone made a small change, the result would be huge.

Each month we’ll provide a list of environmental campaigns and a brief explanation of what each is trying to achieve. We hope that you’ll take the time to look at these campaigns and get involved with those you are interested in.


The Last Plastic Straw
The Last Plastic Straw strives to educate the public about the absurdity of single use plastic, its effects on our health, our environment, and our oceans. We aim to eliminate from the source, the use of single use plastic.
Read more: https://thelastplasticstraw.org

Ecosia
Ecosia is a social business run by a small group of people who measure their success by the positive impact they have on people and the environment. It is a search engine that plants trees with its ad revenue. To date, the organisation has planted over 21 million trees and has a goal of planting 1 billion trees by 2020. Click the link below to read more and find out how you can help them achieve their goal and make a difference to the environment.
Read more: https://info.ecosia.org/what

‘Take action to stop ivory trade’
Around 20,000 African elephants are killed by poachers each year for their ivory tusks. The government has announced plans for a UK ivory trade ban, but they must be held to account to make sure they deliver their commitment as soon as possible.
Read more: https://www.wwf.org.uk/campaigns/stopivorytrade

‘Save Tanzania’s largest wilderness’
Selous Game Reserve is one of Africa’s largest wild areas, but it’s in danger from industrial scale threats like poaching. In less than 40 years, it’s lost 90% of its elephant herds.
Read more: https://makeyourmark.panda.org/uk/selous

‘Save Belize’s endangered reef’
Belize is home to one of the world’s most endangered reefs, but this precious World Heritage site is under threat from oil concessions.
Read more: https://makeyourmark.panda.org/uk/belize

‘Save the Vaquita’
The vaquita is on the list of critically endangered animals – there may be fewer than 30 left in the world. WWF believe we can save them by asking the Mexican president to take strong action now.
Read more: https://makeyourmark.panda.org/uk/vaquita

‘Urge UK supermarkets to stop using plastic packaging’
Around the world, more than 8 million tonnes of plastic goes into the oceans every year. Plastic production is said to quadruple by 2050, which means more plastic into the oceans.
Joanne Betterton is urging all UK supermarkets to follow in the footsteps of Iceland, to make a stand and to lead the way in a new environmental pledge to eliminate the use of plastic in their own-brand packaging. She believes this will be a significant and achievable first step in eradicating the use of plastic packaging altogether.
Read more: https://www.change.org/p/urge-uk-supermarkets-to-stop-using-plastic-packaging


If you’ve come across a campaign or petition that you think deserves a mention, please let us know by emailing editorial@thelocalanswer.co.uk





Note: the above information was sourced in advance of publication so some campaigns/petitions may be out of date.