World Environment Day (WED) is an annual event aimed at being the biggest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action.
It began in 1972 and has grown to become one of the main vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and encourages political attention and action.
Through World Environment Day, the UN Environment Programme is able to bring environmental issues to a personal level, helping people realise their responsibilities and how they can become agents for change.
It is also a day for people from all walks of life to come together to ensure a cleaner, greener and brighter outlook for themselves and future generations.
Website GreenMetropolis.com is supporting World Environment Day by starting a campaign for sustainable reading. Barry Crow, founder of Green Metropolis, explained, “Millions of old books get thrown away every year, with even more copies reprinted on new paper.
“The cost and damage to the environment is huge, so we want to encourage people to keep books in circulation to help prevent such massive and unnecessary waste.”
Barry went on to say he was thrilled the campaign had received so much support from recognised faces such as best-selling author Monica Ali, singer and songwriter KT Tunstall, gardener and author Alan Titchmarsh, Time Team’s Tony Robinson and Countryfile presenter Julia Bradbury.
KT Tunstall, who grew up in St Andrews, has revealed her favourite book is Wild by author and adventurer Jay Griffiths, who travelled the world’s wildernesses for seven years.
KT said, “It gives me a perspective on the world that speaks to me in such a familiar voice, and at the same time completely renews my passion and energy for it.
“It has turned into a constant companion and helps me make sense of my own spirituality. It also has an amazing, fierce, irreverence that is so empowering and wickedly funny to read as a woman.”
She added that Wild gives her memories of being given the book by a great friend, and she has even gone on to use a quote from the book in the artwork of her album.
“It’s an incredibly well-researched, brilliantly-written picture of our time; a celebration of what is possible, and also a record of our current dysfunctional relationship with nature. It’s a masterclass in how important it is to stay wild.”
Green Metropolis is designed to encourage people to recycle and reuse their books in order to keep them in circulation for longer. All books on the site cost £3.75 to buy and books can also be listed for sale to earn £3 cashback.
Green Metropolis donates 5p from every sale to The Woodland Trust, already having raised over £23,000 for the charity and planted over 20 acres of new trees.
In addition to helping reduce paper waste, readers can also help raise funds for great causes. Sellers can choose to donate £1 from their book sale to charities such as Macmillan Cancer Support and Age UK. Each charity has its own online book store within Green Metropolis, helping readers support their favourite charities.