Poems for the planet competition

Write about nature’s beauty and protecting the planet for this year’s competition with National Poetry Day. Enter your poem by 1 December for a chance to win.

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About the competition

If you care about nature or protecting the planet, we’ve got the competition for you.

Logo: National Poetry Day

Greenpeace’s first Poems for the Planet competition, in collaboration with National Poetry Day, invites you to put your poetry hat on. We want your lively limericks, heartful haikus and polished prose on the theme of hope and the environment.

For National Poetry Day on 6 October 2022, explore the beauty of the natural world around us and the need to protect the planet. Maybe you love whale song and want to capture it as poetry. Or maybe you felt moved at an environmental protest. We’d love to read about whatever inspires you to write a poem for the planet.

The competition is open to all ages from 7 and above. Read on to find out how to enter.

Be inspired by Benjamin Zephaniah’s poem ‘Nature Trail’ or explore our youth resources for under 18s.

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Key dates

Here are the dates you won’t want to miss:
  • 15 September: Competition opens for entries
  • 1 December, midnight: Competition closes
  • December-January: We’ll review all the entries
  • January-February: Winners will be contacted and announced.
Read winning poems

 

How to enter

Submit your poem by midnight on 1 December 2022.

You can enter one poem on the theme of the environment and hope. You can use any form of poetry and your poem can be up to 400 words.

The competition is open to anyone over seven. You’ll enter one of three categories:

  • 7-11 years old
  • 11-18 years old
  • 18+

Please read the full competition rules before submitting your poem. Contact poems.uk@greenpeace.org if you have any questions.

 

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Nature Trail

By Benjamin Zephaniah
 
At the bottom of my garden
There's a hedgehog and a frog
And a lot of creepy-crawlies
Living underneath a log,
There's a baby daddy long legs
And an easy-going snail
And a family of woodlice,
All are on my nature trail.
 
There are caterpillars waiting
For their time to come to fly,
There are worms turning the earth over
As ladybirds fly by,
Birds will visit, cats will visit
But they always chose their time
And I've even seen a fox visit
This wild garden of mine.
 
Squirrels come to nick my nuts
And busy bees come buzzing
And when the night time comes
Sometimes some dragonflies come humming,
My garden mice are very shy
And I've seen bats that growl
And in my garden I have seen
A very wise old owl.
 
My garden is a lively place
There's always something happening,
There's this constant search for food
And then there's all that flowering,
When you have a garden
You will never be alone
And I believe we all deserve
A garden of our own.

Submit your poem

Submissions are closed for this year’s competition.

Read the winning poems

What's next?

Two children crouch down on a giant floor map showing air pollution hotspots in London

Education resources for young people

Check out our free educational resources for schools, youth groups, parents, carers and young people themselves. They’ll help young people explore the challenges our planet faces and be inspired to take action to become part of the solution!

Assembly of children listening to a person speaking in a school hall

Greenpeace Speakers

Greenpeace Speakers are trained volunteers who deliver inspiring talks across the country about the challenges of protecting our planet and what people can do to help.