Surely I can't be the only one who finds the phrase 'save the planet' to be so annoying?

Obviously it's a well-meaning sentiment that I fully agree with. I've been an environmentalist since I can remember and have written about it since 2011. I work in sustainability communications, currently at a climate & energy data nonprofit. I live and breath this stuff.

But for some reason I find 'save the planet' to be quite grating. Here's why:

• 'Planet' has the connotation of being the part of nature 'out there' in Attenborough documentaries. We don't usually think of human society as being part of the planet.

• The physical planet itself will be fine. It's the people and animals that live on the planet that are under threat.

• The phrase 'save the planet' has been around for a long time and has often been associated with small things that do not fit the scale of the crisis at all. Like "take a re-usable bag to the shop to save the planet".

• It makes me think of the twee little clip-art style animations and posters you'd see in the 90s and early 2000s of an anthropomorphized Earth pointing to the recycling bins. (Just me?).

Time to save the world

So what do I suggest? My preference is to upgrade the phrase to 'save the world' instead. Here's why:

• 'World' is more inclusive of humans. It definitely includes human society, and it also includes the rest of nature too. In English language, you live in the world but you live on the planet.

• Superhero connotation. Not everyone will like this, fair enough. But I think the association with superheroes, fantasy and sci-fi stories is quite apt and evokes the kind of epic big-picture thinking we need.

One more thing: Can we save this epic language for the big stuff please? No 'recycle this coffee cup to save the world', that will just dilute it. More like 'divest from fossil fuels to save the world'.