Information gathered from various sources:
World Environment Day is celebrated annually on 5 June and encourages awareness and action for the protection of the environment. It is supported by many non-governmental organisations, businesses, government entities, and represents the primary United Nations outreach day supporting the environment.
Supporting the environment is Rotary's seventh area of focus.
The theme for this year's World Environment Day focuses on solutions to plastic pollution under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution.
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, half of which is designed to be used only once. Of that, less than 10 per cent is recycled. An estimated 19-23 million tonnes end up in lakes, rivers and seas. Today, plastic clogs our landfills, leaches into the ocean and is combusted into toxic smoke, making it one of the gravest threats to the planet.
The world is being inundated by plastic!
The packaging sector is the largest generator of single-use plastic waste in the world. Approximately 36 percent of all plastics produced are used in packaging. This includes single-use plastic food and beverage containers, 85 percent of which end up in landfills or as mismanaged waste.
Not only that, what is less known is that microplastics find their way into the food we eat, the water we drink and even the air we breathe. Furthermore, many plastic products contain hazardous additives, which may pose a threat to our health.
The good news is that we have science and solutions to tackle the problem – and a lot is already happening. What is needed most now, is a surge of public and political pressure to scale up and speed actions from governments, companies, and other stakeholders to solve this crisis.
All this underscores the importance of the World Environment Day mobilising action from every corner of the world to eliminate, or minimise the use of plastics.