Daily posts: 5 June 2011

It’s World Environment Day today (5 June) and this year the theme is ‘Forests: Nature at your service.’  World Environment Day kicked off in 1972 and is run every year as a vehicle for the UN to prompt global awareness and action for the environment. Forests are vital not only in balancing the climate, but also in producing oxygen for us to breath as well as providing a natural filter for our water catchments.  Although one third of the Earth’s land mass is forest, this is decreasing at a rate of 13 million hectares every year (that’s nearly two times the land mass of Tasmania!)  That’s a pretty astonishing figure, so what can we do about it?  Well today, we can take a simple action, like planting a tree (check out the website to see if there is an activity already planned near you.) The choices we make also affect forests around the globe; recycle paper, buy 100% recycled Australian made paper, make sure any furniture or building materials you buy are from sustainably sourced timber. This year, UN Good Will Ambassadors Gisele Bundchen and Don Cheadle are vying against each other in the WEDchallenge to see who can rally …