45’MEDIA (team onboard)
As Earth Day approaches, it’s crucial to reflect on the environmental challenges we face and the actions we can take to protect our beautiful planet.
This year the Earth Day theme is Planet vs. Plastics, looking at the impact both on our health and the environment.
FossilFuel🚫
In this special Earth Day edition, we delve into the three main reasons why plastic is harming our planet and share actionable steps we can all take to make a difference.
- The production of plastic is heavily reliant on fossil fuels
- Most plastics can take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills
- Plastic pollution poses a severe threat to nature, especially in our waterways.
So, what can we do about it?
It can often feel like we don’t have a lot of control over the amount of plastic in the world, and that governments or companies should be the ones making the changes.
But change needs to come from everyone.
We all have an area of influence and control over our own decisions when it comes to things like shopping, or our homes.
And laws are changing! In March at the UN Environment Assembly, #175 nations agreed to develop a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by the end of this year.
This hugely important resolution addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal.
CustomerRights
Plus, lots of companies are making changes to the amount of plastic in their products, due to increasing public demand. So don’t underestimate what a difference consumer pressure can make!
Things we can do today
Step 1 – Reduce
We’ve all heard the phrase ‘reduce, re-use, recycle’, but these are not all of equal importance.
The most important thing we can do is REDUCE the amount of plastic we use.
This could be not using single-use water bottles, choosing food items with less packaging when we shop, or buying plastic alternatives such as plastic-free bathroom products.
If we reduce what we use, we reduce the demand for products containing plastics.
Step 2 – Re-use
The second-best thing we can do is to RE-USE the plastic we do have.
Whether this is carrier bags, bottles or plastic containers.
It could also be wearing our clothes for longer.
Synthetic fibres in clothing account for 10% of all plastic usage.
Step 3 – Recycle
Finally, when we must buy or use plastic, we should RECYCLE it.
The reason this is the 3rd step is because, whilst recycling is preferable to incineration or landfill, plastic cannot be recycled forever (unlike metal).
So, recycling delays, rather than avoids, landfill.
What happens to our plastic waste?
When we act together, we can accomplish things that seem impossible to achieve alone.
45'MEDIA 