Miss Earth South Africa believes that Earth Day calls for the attention of ordinary citizens to stop and think. Think about the impact people have on the Earth through their everyday actions.

They ask what happens after Earth Day. How do people follow through and continue the ethos of reducing and being aware of their actions every day of the year? Miss Earth South Africa has developed a programme that empowers young women through environmental education. They are supported by corporates such as Imperial Toyota, Tsogo Sun, Cathay Pacific, Newsclip Media Monitoring, Nedbank and Valprè, which assist in creating a greater awareness for the call-to-action.

The greening of young minds and communities is the main objective of the programme. Young women are being developed as role models and Earth ambassadors and they are being given the opportunity to make a sustainable difference in communities. This is implemented by planting trees, initiating recycling campaigns, assemblies and recognising environmental days of importance like Earth Day. This is partnered with vegetable gardens for schools that are operating government feeding schemes.

These women strive to carry a positive energy and green message to every school they visit. They encourage the understanding of the deep links between environmental and socio-economic issues of communities.

Earth Day is a global attempt for international co-operation to address issues such as climate change, the greenhouse effect, the hole in the ozone layer, toxic waste and groundwater contamination, destruction of rainforests, soil erosion, ocean pollution and deforestation. Individuals and organisations are encouraged to use every Earth Day to take environmental action into their area. The Miss Earth South Africa leadership programme focuses on instilling the ideology of making green issues part of everyday by "Making Every Day an Earth Day".

For more information, visit www.missearthsa.co.za. Althernatively, connect with them on Facebook and on Twitter.