Since 1970, Earth Day has been a day that’s served as a reminder of the fragile nature of our planet. It promotes awareness of efforts made to support environmental protection and educates all of us in ways we can contribute. Each year, a theme is set which reflects the current climate. This year, the theme is “Invest in our Planet”, which places emphasis on building a prosperous and equitable future. It has come time for businesses to invest in our planet. This can be done by funding more sustainable practices within every business. As an individual, you may be wondering what this means for you. Put simply, it means making your voice heard. Even one person's efforts can create a huge change in this movement to invest in our planet. Being enthusiastic with your efforts to clean up, volunteer, donate or even be heard through your efforts on a social media platform, all of it matters and is important in this change!

The organisers of Earth Day have made it easier than ever to participate, by creating a dedicated page on their website with 52 ways to get involved. Some of these activities include tuning into Earth Day Live, picking up rubbish on your walk or run, contacting your local representatives or switching to online billing to reduce paper consumption. To view the full page of ideas, click here.

How Hoselink Helps the Earth

At Hoselink, we’re always striving to have the environment and its longevity at the forefront of our decision-making. From operations and inventory management, right through to something as simple as recycling in the office, what best reflects our efforts is the durability of our products. With regular servicing and the right care, Hoselink products have a lifespan of up to 10 years, an effort we’re extremely proud of! Purchasing high-quality, long-lasting products reduce the volume of material that ends up in landfills and saves you from wasting money on constant replacements.

At Hoselink, we pride ourselves on developing watering products that never leak or burst. Again, not only does this save our customers from the annoyance of faulty products and drenched clothes, but most importantly it saves water. Did you know that a leaking tap can waste up to 9,000 Litres of water per year? Producing products that save water is our mission at Hoselink, reflected through our irrigation systems and automatic tap and misting timers that completely remove the manual work from watering and ensure no water is wasted.

In 2016, Hoselink introduced solar lights with the ambition of providing our customers with a great lighting option whilst ensuring that the impact on the environment was limited. With LED Bulbs (which are low in Co2 emissions), solar lights effectively take care of themselves, switching on when the sun goes down and powering up when the sun rises. They’re eco-friendly, energy-efficient and help our customers reduce their carbon footprint. You can make the switch today here.

To further reduce our carbon emissions, we now also offer a click and collect service to customers who live close by to our headquarters. This reduces both the volume and weight of items we send with Australia Post and also creates a quicker, more convenient option for our customers. We’ve also made the switch to compostable shipping bags, allowing our customers to dispose of their shipping bags with ease in an environmentally friendly manner.

Ways to Restore our Earth

Check out some of the ways we like to help our planet and take steps to restore what we once had:

Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

We know this is a topic you may have heard many times, but it’s become even more important as time’s gone on! Watering is not the only way to save water. Did you know that wasted clothing represents 60,000 tonnes of landfill. Before you throw something in the bin (which should be the last resort) consider upcycling the item. For example, turning a dress into a top or using old bed linen to create entirely new clothing, both tasks of which can be learnt through dozens of YouTube tutorials. Before you donate something to charity, consider asking yourself if you would loan it to a friend. If not, it should not be donated. If you are looking to re-home clothes, consider trying platforms like Depop which provide a safe platform for both the buyer and the seller to obtain pre-loved clothing and other used items.

What about recycled soft plastics? Woolworths and Coles supermarkets offer soft plastic recycling for free! Simply collect your soft plastics during the week and drop them off after your weekly shop. Not only is this a step you can take to reduce your general waste, but it also increases your awareness of exactly what product you are buying and how you can avoid using plastics. Furthermore, when you are doing your grocery shopping, opt for sustainable products, particularly when it comes to purchasing meat and seafood.

In Your Home and Garden

It is no secret that our planet needs more trees to compensate for the massive amounts of deforestation currently occurring. If you can plant a tree in your garden, it can go a long way to provide seeds, food oxygen and even combat climate change. If you have kids, a perfect way to occupy them on the weekend is to start a fruit and vegetable garden, it’s a great opportunity to learn where our food comes from and gives you a reliable food source just metres from your kitchen. Bringing produce straight from your backyard to the kitchen is a wholesome practise that everyone should experience! If you need to apply chemicals around your home and garden, opt for non-toxic options to avoid polluting our waterways. If you live close enough to your home or places you visit regularly, consider riding your bike! It’s great exercise, and you will reduce your carbon footprint and carbon emissions, better yet, you can get the whole family involved! If you are someone who likes to participate in community activities, consider organising your clean up. It is a great opportunity to catch up with friends whilst doing good for your local area and educating others all at once!

The Covid-19 virus may have forced us to stay home, but it also taught us how to stay-cation. Holidaying closer to home can drastically reduce our carbon footprint and can also show us a new appreciation for the beautiful area we live in.

If you’re a student, avoid printing as much as possible. By doing so, you will reduce the number of trees being cut down. top tip: don’t throw away your notes, another student may benefit from them and the paper will have a longer life span!

If you’re an online shopper like many of us are, try to opt for marketplaces that offer compostable bags or a click and collect service. Compostable bags can be put in with food scraps, garden waste, or even a worm farm. Compostable bags will be broken down within months in a non-toxic process. It also makes a huge difference in waste reduction to use companies that promote refills for products to reduce plastic. It has become more and more popular than you will even find a service for toilet paper that is environmentally friendly! Just make sure you do enough research to find a company that best suits your needs.

Please note: although this blog has been written for Australian audiences, we hope it has been a useful stepping stone for you to become more conscious of our earth, or continue with your efforts towards restoring our earth.