What is World Environment Day and why is it celebrated?
World Environment Day is a worldwide day of celebration proclaimed in 1972 by the United Nations General Assembly and is celebrated every year on June 5. Each edition has a theme as a common thread that links all the global initiatives held in honor of the Environment.
The theme for World Environment Day on 5 June 2023 will focus on solutions to plastic pollution under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution.
“More than 400 million tons of plastics are produced worldwide each year, half of which are intended to be used only once. Of this, less than 10% is recycled. An estimated 19-23 million tons end up in lakes, rivers and seas each year. This is the weight of about 2,200 Eiffel Towers combined. Microplastics – tiny plastic particles up to 5 mm in diameter – end up in food, water and air. It is estimated that each person on the planet consumes more than 50,000 plastic particles per year-and many more if inhalation is considered. Discarded or burned single-use plastics harm human health and biodiversity and pollute every ecosystem from mountaintops to ocean floors. With science and solutions available to address the problem, governments, companies and other stakeholders must step up and accelerate actions to solve this crisis.”
We need to start changing our habits, let’s try to buy less plastic: let’s bring fabric bag when we shop for groceries so we avoid use of plastic bags, let’s bring water bottle with us so we don’t take plastic bottles, let’s try to change ourselves and our community.With small steps towards the better future!
I.I.S. “Danilo Dolci” Partinico