Earth Day 

Our planet is simply amazing. Observed from outer space, it could be seen as one big, magnificent machine. With an incredibly complex and vibrant ecosystem, our planet creates the perfect environment to create the ideal conditions for life. We truly have it all and it’s perfect. However, its in trouble.

Our amazing planet doesn’t exactly have a birthday, which brings us to Earth Day. Every year on April 22, more than 193 countries around the world celebrate Earth Day – the anniversary of the moment when the world took notice and the mass environmental movement became a reality.

Did you know?

• Every year, an estimated 2.2 billion tons of waste is dumped in our oceans?
• At the rate we are going, we need 1 and ½ Earths to sustain our lifestyle? By 2030, we will need 2 Earths.
• The reefs grow at a rate of only 0.3 cm to 10 cm a day? The reefs that you see now have been growing for the last 5,000 to 10,000 years.
• It took us only 55 years to wipe out 90% of the ocean’s predators causing a disruption of the marine ecosystem?
• In just one generation, our production of man-made chemicals increased by 40,000% – from 1 million to 400 million tons?
• In the last 200 years, we have added 2.3 trillion tons of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere? Half of this amount was added in the last 30-35 years.

How did Earth Day begin?

According to EarthDay.org, Earth Day was founded in 1970 by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, who called for a “national teach-in on the environment” after witnessing the terrible effects of the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. The first Earth Day brought major actions to the streets of many major U.S. Cities.

Since its foundation, Earth Day has become one of the largest environmental conscious events in the world, celebrated by more than a billion people every year.

Nomad Green Seats

When booking your tour, Nomad gives you the opportunity to offset your carbon footprint by purchasing a “Green Seat”. All proceeds from this initiative goes towards our non-profit Trust which aims to preserve and uplift the people, places and animals of this continent.

Notably, Nomad has been involved in the planting of Spekboom trees, which we believe is a valuable contribution to the planet. We first planted 3 hectares in Baviaanskloof in 2012/2013. The +-7500 trees that were planted works out to offset an estimated 225 tonnes of CO2 over 30 years (+-2.4 tonnes per year).

Thereafter we planted an additional 2 hectares in Calitzdorp in late 2014. The 10 000 trees that we managed to plant results in the offsetting of 144 tonnes of CO2 over 30 years.

We currently have funds available for another 2 hectares to be planted in the next month or so thanks to the amazing contributions. We will go ahead with the planting as soon as the exact planting sites are confirmed. We will then also be notified which communities will benefit from the jobs created by the planting that takes an estimated 120 days to complete.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now” and here at Nomads, we couldn’t agree more.