“World Environment Day” is a day adopted by the United Nations at a summit held in 1972 in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, with the participation of 133 countries, and has been celebrated annually on June 5 since 1972 with various events aimed at drawing public attention to environmental issues, fostering public participation, and increasing political interest.
This year’s theme for World Environment Day is “Beat Plastic Pollution: If you can’t reuse it, refuse it.”
Plastic materials have become increasingly widespread today because they are lightweight, inexpensive, easy to process, and have a wide range of uses. Plastic materials can be found in many places in our daily lives, from plastic bags, bottles, and cutlery to product packaging and even furniture. Despite the widespread use of plastic materials, they cause significant harm because they are not environmentally friendly and take many years to decompose in nature. When plastic materials are discarded into the environment, their decomposition process pollutes soil and water, posing life-threatening risks to all living species.
Some statistics regarding plastic use are as follows:
- An estimated 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced from 1950 to the present.
- Although it is extremely difficult to determine the exact amount of plastic waste in the oceans, many scientists estimate that 8 million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped into the oceans each year. The current amount of plastic waste in the oceans is estimated to be 150 million metric tons.
- Virtually all plastic items ever produced still exist in nature in some form or shape (except for small amounts that have been incinerated).
- 91% of plastic waste is not recycled. The vast majority of plastic produced is non-biodegradable, and the process of breaking down in nature takes more than 400 years.
- Every minute, 2 million plastic bags are distributed worldwide.
- Only 1% of the plastic bags used in Turkey are biodegradable.
- One million plastic PET bottles are purchased worldwide every minute. Less than 50% of these bottles are recycled.
There are some steps we can take as individuals to prevent plastic pollution. The most important of these are:
- Use glass cups instead of plastic cups.
- Get a stainless steel water bottle and stop buying water in plastic bottles every time.
- Don’t take the plastic cutlery provided with takeout or restaurant meals; instead, carry a set of portable metal or wooden cutlery with you.
- When you can’t use porcelain or glass plates, opt for biodegradable plates that break down in nature without harming the environment.
- Buy wooden toys.
- Choose products packaged in glass.
- Save glass containers and jars, and use them instead of plastic storage containers.
- Bring a cloth bag and a shopping cart when you go to the grocery store or the market, and decline any plastic bags offered to you.
- Save paper bags and take them with you to the market to hold your fruits and vegetables.
- If you must use plastic bags, make sure they are biodegradable.
