© NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE / JAN VERMEER / WWF

JOIN THE FIGHTFOR YOUR WORLD

EARTH HOUR 2019

Saturday 30 March at 8.30pmwwf.org.uk/earthhour

Support pack for Youth Groups

We’re the first generation to understand the damage we’re doing to the planet, and the last that can do something about it. We all have a vital role to play in achieving a fairer and more sustainable world where people and nature can thrive. By joining WWF’s Earth Hour, your members can show they want to be part of the fight for our world.

At 8.30pm on Saturday 30 March 2019 hundreds of millions of people across the world will be turning out their lights and coming together to celebrate Earth Hour. It’s a time to show we care about our world and a symbolic reminder that the future of our planet hangs in the balance.

They will be making a promise to help restore nature and to give our planet a brighter future. When one person chooses to act it may seem like a small step, but when millions act together change can really happen.

When nature thrives, so do we. Join us for Earth Hour 2019 and together we can fight for a planet that thrives for future generations. wwf.org.uk/earthhour

Nature is vital. It provides our life-support system, and we can’t survive without it. But today it’s under threat like never before. We’re using up our precious planet’s resources so fast that nature can no longer restore itself.

© NEIL EVER OSBORNE / WWF-US

WHEN NATURE THRIVES, SO DO WE.

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TOUGH TALKWildlife population sizes have

plummeted by 60% in less than 50 years.

One in six species are at risk of extinction because of climate change.

There could be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050.

We lose an area of forest the size of a football pitch every two seconds.

Food is a major driver of wildlife extinction. The food we eat – just in

the UK – is linked to the extinction of an estimated 33 species at home and abroad.

SOME OF OUR MOST RECENT STATISTICS SHOW JUST WHY EARTH HOUR MATTERS.

© NATUREPL.COM / SUE DALY / WWF

© RICHARD BARRETT / WWF-UK

© NATUREPL.COM / STEVEN KAZLOWSKI / WWF

© GLOBAL WARMING IMAGES / WWF

© WWF / RICHARD STONEHOUSE

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Last year, in a spectacular display of unity and action, hundreds of millions of people around the globe joined Earth Hour to celebrate our planet and promise to fight for our world.

A record 188 countries and territories, across seven continents, took part in the biggest global movement to protect our planet. Close to 18,000 landmarks and monuments from the Sydney Opera House to the Eiffel Tower and from Buckingham Palace to Edinburgh Castle switched off their lights as millions united to fight for our planet.

In the UK over 10 million people showed their support for Earth Hour. Over 5,000 youth groups took part and organised events and activities in their local communities. They took part in a number of ways, including:

• encouraging their families to take part in Earth Hour;

• helping with a big beach clean;

• upcycling old t-shirts into bags;

• litter picking scavenger hunt around their community;

• making a promise for the planet;

• story telling around the camp fire or by recycled lanterns.

This year even more people will be taking the opportunity to make a difference by joining Earth Hour. Millions will be inspired to take further steps beyond Earth Hour and join the fight for our world.

© PICTURE ALLIANCE / THILO SCHMÜLGEN / WWF-GERMANY © NICOLAS-ALAIN PETIT / WWF-NEW CALEDONIA© GETTY IMAGES / WWF-AUS

EARTH HOUR 2018 HIGHLIGHTS

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LOOK AFTER OUR WILDLIFE

Earth Hour inspires us to think about what we can do for our planet. Whether it’s making sustainable choices like using less plastic, cutting down on our food waste, or choosing to buy products that don’t harm the environment, every decision we take can make a difference. Here are some ways that we can all make a choice that’s good for nature.

Your members will be familiar with many characters from nature, from Mr Toad in ‘The Wind in the Willows’ to ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’. Yet, in the last 40 years, the UK has seen an unprecedented collapse in its wildlife populations, making it one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Since 1970, more than half of our native species have declined.

The number of hedgehogs – once a familiar sight in back gardens around the country – has plummeted. Some bird species, including lapwings, have also suffered a big drop in populations. And water voles, a key mammal species in our tapestry of streams and rivers, are threatened because of habitat loss, as is the

large marsh grasshopper, which has declined due to draining of bogs, mires and fens, and agricultural overgrazing.

Over 70% of our land is used in agriculture and our intensive farming methods mean that we have lost many of the flower meadows, hedgerows and trees that provide homes for pollinating insects such as bees and other animals. Pesticides pass up the food chain harming predators such as hedgehogs or birds and pollute our rivers.

Nature isn’t just a ‘nice to have’ asset in our lives – like an Xbox or a trampoline. It’s an essential part of our ecosystem.

We need to act now to help restore nature.

FIGHT FOR OUR WORLD

© BJORN HOLLAND / GETTY IMAGES / WWF

© NATUREPL.COM / KLEIN & HUBERT / WWF

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FIX OUR FOOD SYSTEMAnd yet food production is a major driver for wildlife extinction. Around 60% of biodiversity loss is down to food production, and the UK food supply alone is linked to the extinction of an estimated 33 species at home and abroad. Food is the leading cause of deforestation – that’s because forests are cleared to make way for growing crops and livestock. It’s why we pioneered the Livewell Plate, which encourages a sustainable diet, eating less meat and dairy, and more plant-based foods.wwf.org.uk/livewellmeal

However, we need to ensure all the crops we grow and use in food production are sustainable. Palm oil is a globally-important product found in an enormous range of food and non-food items that we use on a daily basis. Found in almost half of all packaged products, palm oil is a very productive crop which grows well in the tropics, but our hunger for it has led to extensive and ongoing deforestation in tropical regions, threatening wildlife such as orangutans, elephants and tigers.

The good news is that we don’t have to give up products containing palm oil. It can be produced in a responsible way that respects the environment and the communities where it is grown. We can all choose to buy products with the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) label. You can use the WWF Palm oil Scorecard to see which of your favourite brands and retailers are using sustainable palm oil and not causing deforestation. http://palmoilscorecard.panda.org/

If you would like to learn more about how sustainable, ethical and healthy different products you might buy are, you could use the Giki app, a sustainable shopping companion which awards a range of different badges to products. It even has a palm oil badge which will tell you whether there is any palm oil in your product and then if it is sustainable.

Here’s a remarkable fact. Did you know that 75% of our food comes from only 12 plants and five animals?

© WWF / SIMON RAWLES

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© GREG ARMFIELD

Plastic is everywhere. From our local rivers and beaches to the remote Arctic sea, it is choking our oceans and killing wildlife. Every year we dump 8 million tonnes of plastic waste into our seas - the equivalent weight of over 600,000 double decker buses.

Plastic pollution is also a major threat to marine life. According to scientists, plastic particles can be found in around 90% of the world’s seabirds. If we don’t act now, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish.

SAY NO TO PLASTIC POLLUTION

WE CAN ALL TRY TO USE LESS PLASTIC AND TO REUSE AND RECYCLE. BUT WE ALSO NEED TO PERSUADE PRODUCERS TO CURB PLASTIC POLLUTION.

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TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGEClimate change, caused by human activity, affects every corner of our planet and one in six species are at risk of extinction as a result. In the Arctic Sea, the loss of ice makes it much more difficult for the polar bears to hunt and breed. The warming of our oceans is destroying coral reefs which are home to more animal species than rainforests.

And climate change affects people too. We are seeing more extreme weather events such as floods, forest fires, or drought. Some experts predict that by 2050 climate change will have forced up to 200 million people to leave their homes.

We can all play a part in tackling climate change. And the choices that we make will shape the future of our planet.

1 IN 6 SPECIES ARE AT RISK OF EXTINCTION DUE

TO CLIMATE CHANGE.

POLAR BEAR: © NATUREPL.COM / TONY WU / WWFCORAL REEF: © WWF / JAMES MORGANFOREST FIRE: © NIGEL DICKINSON / WWFFLOOD: © GLOBAL WARMING IMAGES / WWFDROUGHT: © JOHN E. NEWBY / WWF

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THIS YEAR’SEARTH HOUR CHALLENGE

© WWF-CANADA / FRANK PARHIZGAR

Young people today are vital to protecting our planet, both now and in the future. This resource contains plenty of engaging activities to help you build your members’ understanding of key environmental issues and encourage them to see themselves as part of an interconnected world with a key role to play in building a thriving and sustainable future.

All activities can be adapted for use with different youth groups, ages and abilities. You can use them over several weeks in

the lead up to Earth Hour, or you can carry out some standalone sessions. To celebrate 2019’s Earth Hour, we’re asking you and your members to make promises focused on four important areas – UK nature, climate change, plastic and food.

We want you to #fightforyourworld through everyday decisions on how we live – the food we eat, the energy we use, the things we buy and what we throw away.

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ACTIVITY 1 LOOK AFTER OUR WILDLIFE

INDOORS Working in small groups or pairs, ask your group to choose an aspect of UK nature which really appeals to them – be it water voles, hedgehogs, insects, rivers and streams or hedgerow habitats. Give them a session or two to research their topic and then present their ideas to the rest of the group. They may also like to create a poster to display around their community to raise awareness about the threat to our local wildlife and encourage them to take action. You might like to create a display and invite their families in to see.

OUTSIDEGet out to a local park, common or woodland, armed with a checklist for animals, insects, birds and plants. Divide the groups, and working with an adult, ask them to log what they see in a specific part. Carrying out the same activity 10 times over the course of the year will build a good picture of your local environment.

Organise a nocturnal nature walk to show your group of all ages what species are active when the lights go out.

FUTURE ACTIVITY

Nature isn’t just a ’nice to have‘ asset in our lives – like an Xbox or a trampoline. It’s an essential part of our ecosystem. Earth Hour offers a great opportunity to get our voices heard to protect UK nature. It’s also a good chance to engage young people with the wildlife on their own doorstep.

Citizen ScienceWhy not get involved in a citizen science project and record the nature that is on your doorstep? You can use the iNaturalist app or iNaturalist.org to upload photos that pupils have taken of their wildlife observations. These will contribute to a world-wide database of biodiversity, supporting local and global research projects.

Opal Explore Nature also has a wide range of citizen science surveys for schools and families which include surveying the health of trees, looking at pollution levels in lakes and ponds, and counting bugs. www.opalexplorenature.org

Look out for WWF’s fabulous citizen science resources and challenges linked to Our Planet - an amazing new natural history series with streamed and free content. Available from 5 April 2019. www.ourplanet.com

© NATUREPL.COM / TERRY WHITTAKER / WWF © GLOBAL WARMING IMAGES / WWF

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ACTIVITY 2 FIX OUR FOOD SYSTEM

INDOORS Ask your members to bring random household and beauty products to their next meeting. The leader can download the free app called Giki or use WWF’s Palm Oil scorecard to assist them with identifying which product is healthy for us and healthy for the planet. Ask the group to pinpoint the products they think contain palm oil, and then analyse the ingredients (for extra help try using the Giki app) – they may be surprised to find that lipstick, margarine, detergent and biscuits all contain palm oil. Can your group think of an alternative product? Create a poster to raise awareness of palm oil.

Watch the Rang-tang: The story of dirty palm oil www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQQXstNh45g

OUTSIDEGet growing your group’s own fruit or vegetables. You could develop a portable garden, by planting a window-box with fast-growing seeds and crops, and then bringing the box to the meeting each week so the group can see progress. If your meeting place has space outdoors, allocate a small space for seed growing. How about each member bring in an upcycled pot, which they can decorate and they can plant and grow indoors herbs (any time). We have created a growing guide calendar to help you on your way. Download the ‘Growing guide calendar’ to help you.

You probably don’t realise how many of the things you use contain palm oil. It’s a product that’s found in about half of all packaged products from margarine, instant noodles, pizza dough, bread and ice-cream to shampoo, soap, lipstick, candles and washing detergent. Palm oil is also used to fuel cars, feed animals and generate electricity. Every year in the UK we use about 1.1 million tonnes of palm oil.

Small changes in our diets and our purchasing habits, can make a massive difference to our planet.

© WWF / RICHARD STONEHOUSE © OLA JENNERSTEN / WWF-SWEDEN

HELPFUL TOOLS WWF’s Palm Oil Scorecard visit http://palmoilscorecard.panda.org/Learn more about how sustainable, ethical and healthy the different products you might buy are, download the Giki app.

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ACTIVITY 3 SAY NO TO PLASTIC POLLUTION

INDOORS Get crafty to put your group’s recycling to good use. From planters to pencil pots, head over to wwf.org.uk/gacreativeactivities for some awesome creative and skills-based ideas for all ages. Why not make a display out of plastic of species that are affected by plastic waste and invite parents/guardians in to see your group members’ creations. This is also a great time to highlight the issues to others in the community.

OUTSIDEOrganise a plastic litter pick to demonstrate how plastic gets everywhere. If you’re near a safe beach, find out about joining an organised session with the landowner or custodian. If not, how about tidying up your meeting venue, a local playground or the river towpath, armed with gloves and litter-pickers. Take your haul back and analyse it. What percentage is drinks bottles, straws? How much of it is avoidable? Don’t forget to share your findings and photos on social media using @wwf_uk #EarthHourUK.

To find a local beach, head to:

www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch/greatbritishbeachclean

www.sas.org.uk/our-work/beach-cleans www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lists/pitch-in-with-a-beach-clean

© TRISTAN FEWINGS / WWF-UK © GREG ARMFIELD / WWF-UK

Plastic is everywhere. From our local rivers and beaches to the remote Arctic sea, it is choking our oceans and killing wildlife. Every year we dump 8 million tonnes of plastic waste into our seas - the equivalent weight of over 600,000 double decker buses.

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ACTIVITY 4 TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE

INDOORS Take 30 minutes of a session to get your group to think about how they use energy – the results may surprise them. Lighting, heating, cooking, boiling kettles, playing on consoles and charging phones all use valuable energy. Working in pairs, ask them to think about how they could make their personal use more efficient. Turning off lights, only boiling the water needed rather than filling the whole kettle and turning off appliances are tiny steps, but they’re empowering for young people and foster good habits.

OUTSIDE Build a solar oven This is a great way to show the potential of solar power, but will need an evening to make, and a sunny day to demonstrate. You’ll need to collect clean, empty pizza boxes for each oven, so plan in advance and encourage pair-working. Each oven needs newspapers, tape, scissors, tin foil, a piece of paper and a pen, and a ruler or stick and a pizza box.

What to do First, close the pizza box lid. Place an A4/A5 piece of paper in the middle of the lid (depending on the size of the pizza box used) and draw around the edge. Remove the paper and cut along the two long edges and one of the short edges, to form a flap of cardboard. Fold it back along the uncut edge to make a crease.

Next, wrap the underside of the flap with foil - this will help to reflect the sunlight into the oven. Open the box – or oven – and fit some foil to the bottom of the box too – this will also reflect sun inside. Close the lid, roll up some insulating newspaper, and fit it around the inside edges.

Your group will need a sunny day to fire up their ovens. Take a small piece of food – (marshmallows are ideal) and the oven – outside to a sunny spot. If it’s cold, put a towel or blanket underneath so the bottom doesn’t get cold. Put the food inside and close the oven, but open the flap and turn it so that the foil is directly facing the sun. Use the ruler or stick to prop up the flap so that it bounces the sunlight inside and onto the food. Wait about half hour and then enjoy a warmed-up treat.

It works because the sun’s rays are captured by the foil and concentrated inside the box. The rays are turned into thermal energy, which slowly raises the temperature in the box and cooks the food.

Climate change, caused by human activity, affects every corner of our planet and one in six species are at risk of extinction as a result. In the Arctic Sea, the loss of ice makes it much more difficult for the polar bears to hunt and breed. The warming of our oceans is destroying coral reefs which are home to more animal species than rainforests.

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ACTIVITY 5 A PROMISE FOR THE PLANET

INDOORS Following on from all or one of the activities you have completed, it’s now time for your members to make a promise for the planet. Thinking about the four issues UK nature, The food we eat, Plastic pollution and Climate change, what actions could they take to help fight for our world?

Run through some of the things your group could easily commit to for their #Promisefortheplanet Things like turning off lights and not leaving electrical items on standby are easy wins. How about encouraging them to eat a more plant-based diet or to stop buying soft drinks in single-use disposable bottles and try a refillable one instead?

Get your group to write their promises on the ‘Leaf’ template, they may have more than one promise. Once they have made their promise you could display them on a poster and leave up if you have your own meeting room or you could create a promise box or promise book. Why not create your own promise tree using twigs from outside. Showcase your group’s promises to parents/guardians at the end of the meeting.

Give each member a promise buddy to help with their challenge, because a bit of support can make all the difference. During all future meetings, why not start with a promise catch up: how are they getting on? Have they encouraged family members or friends to do their promise? Have they encountered any barriers? What other changes have they made beyond their promise?

This activity encourages members to make the links between their own actions and the future of our planet. After thinking about the ways in which they enjoy the ‘great outdoors’ they make a promise to take one step to protect the Earth.

© RICHARD BARRETT / WWF-UK © GLOBAL WARMING IMAGES / WWF

© TROY MAYNE / WWF

© ANA PAULA RABELO / WWF-UK

© GREG ARMFIELD / WWF-UK

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SAMPLE TWEET[Youth group name] we’re taking part in @wwf_uk #EarthHourUK 2019, are you?

Share your Earth Hour promises with us:

In England, @wwf_uk and #EarthHourUK

In Scotland, @WWFScotland and #EarthHourScotland

In Wales, @WWFCymru and #EarthHourWales

Share your Earth Hour stories with us; we’d love to hear them. Send them to youth@wwf.org.uk

or tweet them @wwf_uk #EarthHourUK

For a future where people and nature thrive | wwf.org.uk© 1986 panda symbol and ® “WWF” Registered Trademark of WWF. WWF-UK registeredcharity (1081247) and in Scotland (SC039593). A company limited by guarantee (4016725)

For a future where people and nature thrive | wwf.org.uk© 1986 panda symbol and ® “WWF” Registered Trademark of WWF. WWF-UK registeredcharity (1081247) and in Scotland (SC039593). A company limited by guarantee (4016725)

wwf.org.uk/earthhour

© NATALIE BOWES / WWF-CANADA

TELL US ABOUT IT!

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LEAF TEMPLATEACTIVITY 5: PROMISE FOR THE PLANET