Sudarsan Pattnaik’s Stunning Sand Art Has An Important Earth Day Message

Organizers of Earth Day-April 22-chose this year to focus on plastic materials, which are a problem due to their “un-biodegradable nature”, according to the Earth Day Network.

Air pollution and acid rain were foremost concerns at the first declared Earth Day – April 22, 1970 – and inspired an estimated 20 million American citizens to participate in peaceful street marches, teach-ins and community gatherings across the country.

The goal of Earth Day 2018 is to mobilize the world to “End Plastic Pollution”.

The Federal Government in collaboration with stakeholders has developed a national strategy for the phase-out of non- biodegradable plastics, minister of state for environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril said.

Mr Divine Agborli, Media Team Member for Earth Day/March for Science, said the event organised globally would galvanise support for environmental solutions, rectify environmental issues and provide possible solutions for it.

Plastic accounts for around 10% of the total waste generated.

Kenya’s young environmental campaigners on Wednesday urged big corporations to support a total ban on plastics in order to reduce pollution of vital ecosystems like water sources.

According to David Katz, the founder of Vancouver, Canada-based nonprofit Plastic Bank, “The only way to stop ocean plastic is to reveal the value into the hands of collectors”.

Some of the facts are mind-boggling, Greenpeace estimates 12.7 million tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans, an average of one truck load per minute.

Today is Earth Day 2018. Getting rid of single use plastics, using less plastic and getting involved in local legislation and regulation to reduce and recycle plastics is a good start.

CHTA salutes its tourism enterprises that have successfully reduced the use of plastic in their operations, with creative alternatives to plastics for food containers, cutlery, cups and straws and the introduction of reusable water bottles.

Two decades later, in 1990, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Plastic products have been used since the 1870s.

Supermarkets are also being asked to bring in a plastic-free aisle in their stores, similar to what has been done in the Netherlands, and to set up systems whereby consumers can buy items in bulk.

Wachholz said most recycling doesn’t separate different plastics from each other, which makes the process less efficient.

The day also sees public awareness drives across the planet regarding the challenges it faces and how to overcome them to make life in it sustainable. McDonald’s and Coca-Cola both announced initiatives in January aimed at reducing the amount of packing waste in their global operations. Can I use something else that I already have? During the war, plastic production had increased almost four-fold.