World Environment Day
With Waste Action Maleny
June 5 is World Environment Day, an international day of environmental awareness and action. This year’s theme is ‘Ending Plastic Pollution’, with a focus on reducing consumption, promoting plastic reuse and recycling, and developing sustainable solutions such as bioplastics.
Plastic pollution is now a global health crisis, threatening both planetary and human well-being. Globally, approximately 360 million metric tons of plastic waste are generated annually, with most not recycled. All plastic eventually breaks down into microplastic particles, now found in our rivers, oceans, soil and atmosphere.
Because microplastics are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat, particles are being found in human blood, organs, and even brains.
What we can do:
- Avoid single-use plastics
- Carry a reusable water bottle
- Use a keep cup for takeaway coffee
- Replace plastics with alternatives – e.g. cloth or paper bags, timber toys and furniture, natural fibre clothing and linen
- Pick up plastic rubbish
- Tell governments to mandate soft plastics recycling
- Tell supermarkets and companies to stop selling products in plastic