Break Free from Plastic: Our Planets Lifeline Depends on It

You need to have a can-do attitude. There is always a way.

(Deshapriya Nanayakkara)

Bag the Change – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse', International Plastic Bag-Free Day is a vital opportunity to increase public awareness of the harmful effects of plastics on the environment and promote alternatives that are reusable and environmentally friendly.

Plastic waste is very harmful to human health and wildlife. There are over 700 species threatened directly by plastic pollution through ingestion.

 There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea.

 UN Member States are currently negotiating a legally-binding, international agreement on plastics that will address the entire life cycle of plastics, from design to production and disposal.

Global plastic pollution treaty

UN Member States are currently negotiating a legally-binding, international agreement on plastics that will address the entire life cycle of plastics, from design to production and disposal. 

On March 2, 2022, UN Member States voted at the resumed fifth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) with the mandate of advancing a legally-binding international agreement on plastics.The resolution is entitled “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument.”

* "Plastic-Free Living: Where Health and Sustainability Intersect."

Plastic pollution

* Over 460 million metric tons of plastic are produced every year for use in a wide variety of applications. 
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* An estimated 20 million metric tons of plastic litter end up in the environment every year. That amount is expected to increase significantly by 2040.
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* Plastic pollution affects all land, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. It is a major driver of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and contributes to climate change.
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* As plastic pollution is a transboundary issue, a global plastics treaty is needed to ambitiously reduce plastic production, phase out harmful subsidies, eliminate products and chemicals of concern, and adopt strong national plans and rigorous reporting and compliance mechanisms.

Environmental responsibility refers to the duty of individuals, organizations, businesses, and governments to act in ways that protect the environment and promote sustainable use of natural resources.

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. —*Mohandas K.
(*Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi)

In an underdeveloped country, don't drink the water, in a developed country, don't breathe the air.