WORLD EARTH DAY 2024

Theme for World Earth Day 2024: Planet vs. Plastics

Planet vs. Plastics unites students, parents, businesses, governments, unions, individuals, and NGOs in an unwavering commitment to call for the end of plastics for the sake of human and planetary health, demanding a 60% reduction in the production of plastics by 2040 and a goal of building a plastic-free future for generations to come. 

Plastics extend beyond an imminent environmental issue; they present a grave threat to human health as alarming as climate change. As plastics break down into microplastics, they release toxic chemicals into our food and water sources and circulate through the air we breathe.

Many plastic bags have a working life of a few minutes, followed by an afterlife of centuries. Even after plastics disintegrate, they remain as microplastics, minute particles permeating every niche of life on the planet. 

People seldom think of water when they think of plastics. But making a plastic water bottle requires six times as much water as the bottle itself contains.

Planet vs. Plastics: Global Theme for Earth Day 2024 – Earth Day

As consumers, we need to understand the impact that our plastic consumption is having on the environment. Here are few eye-opening facts about plastics:

Only 9% of all plastic produced is recycled

A whopping 2 million plastic bags are used every minute worldwide

Single-use plastics are illegal in some parts of the world

Every minute of every day a truckload of plastic is dumped into the ocean

73% of beach litter worldwide is plastic

One million plastic bottles are bought every minute

There could be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050

Up to 95% of plastic polluting oceans is carried by 10 rivers

99% of seabirds will be eating plastic by 2050

The average person eats 70,000 microplastics each year

The average time that a plastic bag is used is just 12 minutes

Over the past 50 years, world plastic production has doubled