TikTok, also known as Douyin in its home market Singapore, has users that are continuously making a grand impact on Earth’s well being, using viral videos to gain signatures for petitions to stop harming the environment. With 50 million daily active users, the platform is used by many accounts to spread awareness of the damage caused by human use of fossil fuels. These viral videos gain millions of views.

There are some petitions to stop oil drilling in sacred areas, like the Arctic. The Gwich’in tribe has used the Arctic for their hunting of bowhead whales. They describe the Arctic as “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins.” Damaging the home of many species will not only kill animals but harm cultures. Due to this overwhelming support from TikTok viewers, the campaign called Saving The Arctic shot up to 2 million signatures. The viral videos that gained attention range from drawings the TikTokers made to actual videos of real life animals. The drawings mainly show how beautiful the Earth once was and the aftermath of humans polluting the world. They give viewers a visual to the damage being done from to past, up to right now in this very moment. 

There are viral videos of polar bears deprived of their normal environment of ice due to global warming. Everything connects to the global warming that previous and current generations have caused. With the increasingly warm temperature in the arctic, the usually thick chunks of ice turn into thin slabs. With these thin slabs the polar bears can no longer travel or have a safe resting spot. This leads to the polar bears being constantly alert, which uses up their energy. Without their energy they can no longer hunt for their food, which leads to the bears starving and eventually dying. Society has found itself believing that the life of a few species does not matter. But using that mindset long-term, we will see the consequences of our actions.

Studies say that over 1 million species and plants could go extinct due to global warming, according to a recent CBS News article. Every year 300-400 tons of metals and other toxic waste are dumped into the world’s water. This is one of many problems humans have created for Earth’s species: we have allowed invasive species to overcrowd and take over the homes of native plants and animals, leading to a plummet in their numbers. According to PBS, the number of invasive species (including life-threatening bacteria) per country has increased 70% since 1970.

Humans are not invincible. We will eventually become a part of the list of becoming extinct. The only question is can we slow this down, for us and other species? Many TikTok accounts discuss ways that we could easily prevent pollution. They explain how producing less trash will prevent it from going to a trash incinerator, which produce 2.5 times as much carbon dioxide (CO₂) as a coal factory does. Eating and buying the food you know you will actually eat can benefit the Earth as well. By doing this, you are cutting down on energy consumption, and allowing someone who might actually need that food to get it for themselves. Using solar panels is also a great alternative for electricity.

All these topics can easily be found on TikTok, with the sole purpose of making the Earth healthy again. Many TikTokers even show tips and tricks to encourage these changes. Saving the Earth is now one click away, with creators all over the world.