5 free ideas for a climate-themed night in that both entertains and informs

Talking climate change with friends and family may not initially spring to mind as the most relaxing of ways to spend your down-time. But injecting a little creativity into the process, can ensure that discussing THE environment within your social environment, is a seamless process.

Below we look at five ideas for climate-themed nights in, that will keep your party both informed and engaged. And the best part is, all the resources listed below are completely free. Enjoy!

1. The climate-themed escape room

We all know that the world needs to be quicker on its toes when it comes to responding to the challenges presented by the climate emergency. And what better way for individuals to put themselves through their paces in readiness for such climate action than negotiating a climate-themed escape room?

Charity Tear Fund has everything you need to do just this, as part of their free Climate Silencer escape-room resource. And it can all take place over video-conferencing technology, such as Zoom, so that your connections from around the globe can join in too.

2. Come Dine with Me: the sustainable edition

Give a nod to the planet by creating your own version of the hit Channel 4 series, using sustainable recipes including those featured on the websites of organisations such as the WWF or following tips from the Sustainable Food Trust on how to eat more sustainably.

The core principles? Eat seasonally, embraced plant-based meals and keep wastage to an absolute minimum. You can even try using free-sharing apps such as Olio to find ingredients to include in your meal that may otherwise have gone to waste. If you’re going to make things competitive, and award the winner/s a prize, why not try snapping up something pre-loved?

3. Movie night: Aluna, the film

Originally distributed by Netflix, this feature-length documentary includes self-filmed footage from the Kogi of Columbia, an indigenous South American tribe from the Andes, as they aim to raise awareness of their fears for society and the planet.

Over the past three decades the Kogi have continued to see frightening changes in their homeland as highways, power plants and ports are developed, as well as increased glacial melt on their mountain peaks, ferocious storms, landslides, floods, droughts and deforestation that continues to take their toll on the land. They’re saying unless we change our destructive habits nature will force us to. Settle on the sofa, grab some planet-friendly snacks and watch it for free here.

4. Climate change: the board game

Inspired by the research performed in the Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Climate Change – this scientific board game was created to show how climatic changes affect animal species over long periods of times (millions of years), leading to their migration, evolution or extinction. The minimum age for players is 8, so this is a great activity to do as a family.

You’ll need to print several PDFs, find all of them here, to make up the game. Print double-sided, and on recycled paper, if possible, to keep your carbon footprint in check.

5. Climate-change conscious crafting

Who knew climate change and crafting could sit in the same sentence? There are plenty of climate-change conscious, and free crafting activity packs online to choose from. The world really is your oyster in this area. You could try making a Japanese boro bag, which utilises material offcuts, recycled planters using household packaging, and so much more.