The Earth Day 2024
Today is April 22, International Earth Day – 2024. Every year since 1970, April 22, is observed as Earth Day.
This Earth Day is being celebrated at a time when a severe heatwave is going on in the entire South East Asia, including our country. Internationally, this day is being celebrated through various programs led by EARTHDAY.ORG to make people aware of the global environment.
EARTHDAY.ORG has chosen the theme for this year’s World Earth Day: Planet vs. Plastics to end plastics for human and planetary health, which will remain in effect for the next year.
Plastic pollution is one of the most prominent environmental problems at present. On land, in water, in mountains and forests, on the sea floor, even the ice caps of Antarctica and mountain peaks are plagued by plastic pollution today. The global environment is under serious threat today due to non-biodegradable plastic pollution.
Polythene and plastic are being used every day in the packaging of daily necessities. Polythene and plastic wraps are being thrown into drains, roads, fields, rivers, canals and crop fields as waste after using the products. As a result, the environment is being polluted.
Due to the easy availability of polythene bags, in urban areas, kitchen scraps, fish scraps, food scraps and household rubbish are filled in polythene bags and thrown in dustbins or roadsides.
The fast-growing fashion industry in today’s world produces 100 billion garments annually. Overproduction and overconsumption have transformed this industry into a fast-growing industry.
People now buy 60% more clothes than 15 years ago due to rapidly changing fashion trends and the tendency to buy new clothes instead of fully utilizing them. Different single-use plastic products are used to keep each piece of clothing in shape until it is worn by the customer.
Soil is becoming infertile because of plastic waste, and waterways are getting blocked by sewage and fish farming. The final destination of all these polythene and plastic bags and bottles is sea and ocean.
Studies have shown that 8 million tons of plastic are being deposited in the oceans every year. If we keep using plastic at this rate, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
Plastics and polythene are often mistaken as food by aquatic animals. They end up in their stomachs along with their actual food, which they cannot digest.
This leads to the death of the animals. Again, they float or are partially or fully submerged. As a result, sunlight creates a barrier in the water. It inhibits the production of marine plants. It causes harm to marine life.
For centuries, they have been broken down into tiny particles called microplastics due to being in water. Fish and other aquatic animals can indirectly introduce their waste into our bodies when we consume them.
This waste, along with the fish and sea salt, can potentially contribute to the development of various diseases, including cancer.
Burning plastic products releases microplastics into the air, which are inhaled by humans.
So, with food, with breathing, microplastic enters the human body and creates deadly health problems in the human body.
We should protest to create a future without plastic for the next generation, for the benefit of people and the planet. Campaign goal: Urge EARTHDAY.ORG to commit firmly to reducing plastic production by 60% by 2040.
To achieve a 60% reduction by 2040, EARTHDAY.ORG’s goals are:
- Raise awareness about the harm caused by plastic to humans, animals, and biodiversity, and advocate for more research into its health effects. Disclose to the public any and all information relating to its effect.
- Phase out single-use plastics by 2030 and meet UN commitments on plastic pollution by 2024.
- Reduce the use of plastic in the fast fashion industry, thereby ending the plastic disaster. and
- Investing in innovative technologies and materials to build a plastic-free world.
Kathleen Rogers, President of EARTHDAY.ORG said, “The word environment means the environment that surrounds you. Now plastic is all around us. We ourselves have become products
– it flows through our blood stream, attaches to our internal organs and carries with it heavy metals known to cause cancer and complex diseases (Heavy Metals e.g. Pb, As, Hg, Cd, Zn, Ag, etc.) carries.
This product has changed and now poses a threat to our health and the health of all living beings. The Planet vs. Plastic campaign is a call to arms, a demand that we act now to end the plastic scourge and protect the health of every living thing on our planet.”
Plastic is a big environmental problem that is growing fast and poses a serious threat to human health, as serious as climate change. Plastics become microplastics and release toxic chemicals into our food, water, and air.
Plastic production has now increased to 380 million tonnes per year. More plastic has been made in the last ten years than in the entire 20th century, and the industry is ready for huge growth in the future.
Dennis Hayes, chair emeritus of EARTHDAY.ORG said “All these plastics are produced from a petrochemical product. These emit toxic gases and the residue is spilled around, polluting the environment and causing excessive noise pollution.
Plastic pollutants are produced all the time. Around and by poor people. Burning some plastics is dangerous, while others can be eaten by birds and harm ocean life. Until the dump, plastic is a dangerous waste.”
Last year, 500 billion plastic bags—one million bags per minute—were produced worldwide. Many plastic bags are used only once, then decompose and pollute the environment for centuries. Plastics break down into microplastics even after they are broken. These tiny particles are everywhere on the planet.
100 billion plastic beverage bottles were sold in the US last year. This is more than 300 bottles per population. Some of them will be converted into park benches; Not one of these new plastic bottles will be made, and 95% of all plastic in the US is not recycled at all. 5% of recyclable plastic is sent to poorer countries to be “down cycled” or “recycled” into lower-quality products. This increases the demand for plastic raw materials in the United States.
When people think of plastic, they rarely think of water. But making a plastic water bottle takes six times as much water as the bottle itself.
EARTHDAY.ORG has asked the International Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC) to stop producing single-use plastic by 2030 in the Global Plastics Agreement.
Because plastic is a danger to humanity and all living beings, disrupting the delicate balance of life on Earth.
We need to quickly stop using single-use plastics and work on a strong UN treaty to fight plastic pollution. We also need to speed up getting rid of plastics in the fashion industry and invest in new technologies and materials to create a world without plastic.
Individually we can follow the following rules to reduce the use of plastic: –
Instead of using single-use plastic bags, use reusable bags made of jute, straw, or other decomposable materials, or use durable polythene or plastic bags that can be reused. Limit consumption if not possible at once.
- b) Stop using disposable plastic bottles and help raise public awareness and support to reduce their use.
- c) If recycling collectors are not accessible, find a way to collect and supply used plastic bags and bottles for recycling.
To reduce clothes shopping, we can stop following fashion trends and be mindful of excessive fragrances. We should focus on using the clothes we already have instead of buying more.
