INDIANA – Celebrate World Environment Day on June 5 by engaging in efforts to protect Earth’s resources. This year’s theme focuses on solutions to plastic pollution, as plastic threatens the longevity of our planet.
The theme for World Environment Day on 5 June 2023 will focus on solutions to plastic pollution under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution.
The world is being inundated by plastic. More than 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year, half of which is designed to be used only once. Of that, less than 10 percent 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.
Not only that, but 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. 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 up actions from governments, companies, and other stakeholders to solve this crisis. This underscores the importance of this World Environment Day mobilizing action from every corner of the world.
World Environment Day 2023 will showcase how countries, businesses, and individuals are learning to use the material more sustainably, offering hope that one day, plastic pollution will be history.
