How To Do Earth Day in 2024

'WHAAAT??' I hear you wail. 'But we did Earth Day already. This is so two weeks ago man'.

And there's the rub. If you are genuinely, authentically embracing and embedding the Earth Day principles into how you do business, then it will be so much more than a passing few days in the content calendar to create to.?To 'do Earth Day' well, a mindset shift needs to happen from thinking less of Earth Day as a sustainable brand marketing and communications opportunity, and more as a time for deep reflection on the transformational changes you need to make as a business, and an organisation of people, to rise to the greatest challenge in a generation.

Because at the very heart of the Earth Day is a vision for change . It's a call for "sector transformation - bold, creative, and innovative solutions'.?Everything that we've been doing - from the way we run our economies, operate our businesses, treat human beings, natural resources, and measure business success have laddered up to this 'do or die' moment in history.

But where to start?!

Start with people, and get talking about nature.

Earth Day is an opportunity?to anchor authentic stakeholder engagement. Make it part of a human-centred materiality. To talk and reflect on your business or organization with the people that are part of it. Here's a starter for 10 on some questions to ask; how does your core business model not only depend on nature, but also negatively impact it? Do your employees, from all departments, understand the full extent of your business impact on the environment? How do they feel about where the business is now, and do they have a point of view on where it should be headed? What do your customers know about your impact and what do they really want? How connected is your organisation, and the people in it, to nature and what can you do to strengthen that connection?

Gather. Share. Listen.?It's an opportunity to have very real, authentic conversations with about the state of humanity on the planet and your specific role as an organisation in that context.

In summary, here's a few tips;

?? DO your research. Understand what #EarthDay is all about, especially the theme. Head to @earthdaynetwork to find out more. Earth Day is so much more than a meme or sustainability day to create content to. It’s a movement rooted in positive action around environmental protection and action. The 2023 theme 'Invest in our planet' has a strong call to action - to 'act boldly, innovate broadly, and implement equitably'. If your business is acting, innovating, and implementing, share the roadmap and anchor your storytelling there.

?? DO use it as an opportunity to reflect on your business or organization - what are you doing now, what do you need to be doing more of or, critically, a whole lot less of to drive down those impacts. Will your business mode even exist in 10 years? Where do you need to invest in transformation strategies to make your business inherently more sustainable (in every sense of the word).

?? DO focus on action not words. If you are working effectively to Earth Day principles, how you are changing how you do business will be at the heart of your communications.

?? DO use #EarthDay as an opportunity to have very real, authentic conversations with your stakeholders and community about the state of humanity and nature, and your specific role as an organisation in that context.

?? DO bring nature into the room in whatever way you can to help make it real for your organisation and the people in it. Boil it down, the Earth Day transformation vision is actually about regeneration. How we can we fundamentally change what we do so we can avoid the destruction, and restore nature so we can all thrive?

And remember..

?? "Earth Day is not a sales opportunity", as I wrote recently for The Drum .?Production and consumption are driving planetary degradation. Leveraging Earth Day to flog your new product / range / or partnership will, at best, appear tone deaf or opportunistic, and at worst fall foul of greenwashing regulation. It’s also a missed opportunity for education or to have those authentic conversations about where your organisation is on the journey, and where it's headed.

???Don't just talk. Avoid?focussing on words and content. Earth Day is all about action. If you're going to use it to talk about your sustainable business strategy then pair it with, for example, employee activity, aligned with the theme.

?? Don't just talking about the easy stuff. And this is where you can easily, unwittingly tip into Greenwash - talking about the good stuff ('hey look at all the things we're doing and aren't we great for doing so') whilst not pointing to the work that needs to be done. If you are going to talk about the positive actions your business and organisation are taking, be very careful about overstating the impact. Acknowledging the progress you still need to make and pointing to your plans for further action will create the right balance. And earn respect for being honest, transparent, and real about the journey you're on.

?? Avoid GreenPuff. You heard it here first. By which I mean leveraging Earth Day to beat your own organisational chest to grow sustainability brand cred.?Making Earth Day communications all about you not only misses the point, but it's also a missed opportunity to listen, learn, take-stock. Make it about how you're changing to contribute to a better world for your employees, families, children and the environment they live in.

At the end of all the Earth Day hype sit down and really ask; "what role has our business model played in this big ol' mess? How can our capabilities serve what the world needs most, not just now but in 10 years? And How are we changing how we do things. Critically, this is the hard bit - are we changing fast enough?

Communicating what you learn in this process of learning would be the most powerful Earth Day campaign of all. If you need help anchoring Earth Day communications in a strong, strategic, rock-bed of change that involves ALL stakeholders, then get in touch. I'm here for ambitious leaders ready for bold action.