To celebrate Earth Day, what better way to highlight the most pressing environmental issues than by showcasing the reality through the work of wildlife and nature experts Minden Pictures?

What is Earth Day?

Earth Day is a yearly occasion established to support and enhance awareness of protecting our environment.

The first Earth Day took place on April 22nd, 1970 in the US. Since then, it has grown into a global event, with more than one billion people around the world participating each year.

2024’s edition focuses on raising awareness around the risks of continuing the use of plastics on our environment, especially single-use plastics.

Earth Day’s objective is to have a total reduction of 60% of all plastics by 2040.

The organizers are also lobbying for tougher support around plastic production regulations – and a pledge to end plastic pollution, with support from more than 175 countries, is set to be implemented later this year.

The organization also demands an end to fast fashion. This relatively new craze involves the rapid production of low-quality clothing to follow industry trends, and this is typically sold at a very low price.

Fast fashion has been proven to be drastically harmful from both environmental and ethical standpoints; many of these clothes are discarded after minimal wear and workers are often poorly paid.

Despite this, there are some alarming predictions of rapid growth ahead, with the total value of fast fashion expected to rise from $103.2bn in 2022 to $291.1bn by 2032.

To create a more sustainable future, they argue that, as a society, we should be more aware of the impacts of our choices. Like most things in life, small changes on a large scale can lead to significant impact.

The impact of pollution on our environment and wildlife

We asked Larry Minden, founder of Minden Pictures, to curate some photos from his team’s collection that highlight the impact of our plastic usage on the environment and wildlife.

In pictures: The beauty of nature

It’s important to remember that our world is not only our home but also the home of hundreds of thousands of species. It’s estimated that around one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction due to climate change.

Here are just a few photos that show the beauty of nature and remind us why we must all do our bit to help combat pollution and climate change.

How to get involved with Earth Day

There are many ways to get involved with Earth Day, with numerous local events and activities.

Apple has also announced that it will allow anyone to recycle their old or damaged Apple devices for free via the company’s recycling partners.

But, perhaps the most exciting campaign we’ve seen comes courtesy of Disney+ and National Geographic: subscribers of the former can enter a competition to win a free cruise to the Galápagos Islands alongside highly respected naturalists, biologists, and photographers.