Happy Earth Day from Mysa! Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary on April 22, 2020, Earth Day is a global event focused on protecting our beautiful Mother Earth. Each year, this represents a day to celebrate our planet and enact positive change.
Given the realities of climate change, the theme for Earth Day 2020 is fittingly climate action. Today, many companies are increasing their efforts to operate more sustainably and do their part to help the planet.
Mysa Smart Thermostats was founded with a mission to fight climate change. Ultimately, we aim to have a positive effect on our environment through company operations. Together we can all do our part to make a difference and encourage action. But, it begins with occasions like Earth Day that start the conversation.
History of Earth Day
The origins of Earth Day date back to the original environmental movement of the 1960s and 70s. As the public started to question the potential long term negative effects that industry and development would have on the environment, the Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 spurred a wave of public action and education. On April 22, 1970, the first official Earth Day resulted in rallies of 20 million people across America, fighting for our planet. Twenty years later, Earth Day became a global phenomenon, with involvement from 141 countries.
Earth Day Today
Today, the “Earth Day Network is the world's largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 75,000 partners in over 190 countries to drive positive action for our planet”. And in 2020, Earth Day celebrates its fiftieth anniversary.
The environmental movement has steadily grown and its legacy can be found in households and businesses all across the world. It's evident in the small things: the mantra of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” and public policy pieces like fines for littering. Also, you can see it on a more macro level: a spike in sustainable energy production across the globe, and a widespread push to keep our planet safe for generations to come.
Moving forward, many companies are making sustainability and eco-consciousness core pillars of their company values. Mysa was founded with an eco-conscious mission and works to have a positive impact on our planet each day.
Mysa's Mission and Earth Day
Mysa Smart Thermostats is a Canadian company with a single mission – to fight climate change. Understandably, an occasion like Earth Day is particularly important to us.
Mysa makes products to help customers increase the energy efficiency of their homes. Our first product was developed for electric baseboard heaters, a relatively eco-conscious heating source. Before Mysa, the smart thermostat industry was dominated by companies producing devices for low voltage heating, which generally requires fossil fuels to operate. With products like Mysa for Baseboard and Mysa for Electric In-Floor Heating, Mysa helps fill a gap in the market and allows more people to take sustainable energy management into their own hands.
Doing Our Part – One Thermostat at a Time
In Canada, home heating and cooling accounts for 60-70% of a home's total electric bill. Therefore, having a smart thermostat to control this electricity usage can make a big impact. With every thermostat sold, Mysa enables customers to lead change through energy efficiency.
As Mysa builds its roster of products and our community of Mysa users across North America, we are helping the world move towards renewable energy sources. The decarbonization of electrical grids is vital to our planet's future prosperity. Our goal is to create the world's largest virtual power plant to fight climate change. This kind of coordinated action can make a major difference.
Mysa's Evergreen Values
In addition to working towards our ultimate goal of developing the world's largest power plant, Mysa also works to save the planet through our day-to-day actions.
First and foremost, we mitigate our own carbon footprint. Each year, we purchase locally-sourced carbon credits to account for our company's operations.
We also engage with our employees to promote sustainability on a daily basis. Over the past year, our team participated in community clean-ups, a carbon offset challenge, and clothing and toy drives (to encourage sustainable consumption). Mysa HQ is also on its way to becoming 100% paperless, we're vigilant about recycling and composting, and we conserve daily office energy use through mindful lighting practices. Small changes add up!
What Can YOU do to Celebrate?
Interested in finding ways to celebrate Earth Day? Make sure to visit the Earth Day Network's website and check out their ‘24 Hours of Action'. There are many initiatives to take part in, such as: choosing more plant-based meals, learning new recycling tips, and talking to your utility provider about renewable energy.
Also, making an effort to live more sustainably in your daily life can have a huge impact. Here are some ways you can create change starting at home:
- Maintain your indoor air quality by avoiding scented candles, aerosol sprays, and air fresheners.
- Reduce your energy consumption by automating your indoor temperature and monitoring your energy use with a smart thermostat.
- Reduce your water consumption by using low flow showerheads and efficient appliances.
- Compost your kitchen scraps and yard trimmings.
- Pay attention to product packaging while shopping and avoid products packaged with unnecessary materials.
- Recycle all materials that you can (paper, plastic, cardboard, electronics, etc.). And make sure to check with your local recycling depot to see what they accept.
- Shop in local and/or thrift stores to cut down on energy consumption, carbon emissions, and unnecessary waste.
Do What You Can
At the end of the day, real change is not about having a small group of people doing everything perfectly. What's more important is having everyone do whatever they can to make a difference.
Earth Day helps create awareness and start a conversation. From there, people ultimately become more mindful of their behaviour, which leads to conscious action toward living more sustainably.
What do you do to celebrate Earth Day? Tell us in the comments below!