Today, on the 5th
of June, it is a particularly important environmental awareness day: World
Environment Day (WED). The United Nations designated 5 June as World
Environment Day. The United Nations became increasingly aware that the
protection and improvement of the human environment is a major issue, impacting
the wellbeing of people all over the world. They are the leading global voice
on the environment.
It is a day
that’s celebrated internationally to encourage awareness and action to protect
our environment. Since its inception in 1974, it has grown exponentially as
it is celebrated in more than 100 countries. In fact, it has become an imperative
global platform for public outreach.
People from all
over the world are invited to action to take care of our planet and raise
awareness of the environment and specific environmental issues.
The host
This year's host
is China, where the official celebrations will be taking place.As
part of this, the host highlights the environmental challenges it faces and
supports worldwide efforts to address them.
Theme
Every year, WED
is organized around a particular theme drawing much-needed attention to a
particularly pressing environmental concern. The theme and focus for 2019 is “Beat
Air pollution”, a global concern impacting people and the environment
negatively.“We can't stop breathing, but we can do
something about the quality of air that we breathe.”
“Approximately 7
million people worldwide die prematurely each year from air pollution.”
“In particular
WED 2019 urges governments, industry, communities, and individuals alike to
come together to explore renewable energy and green technologies, and improve
air quality in cities and regions across the world.”
What causes Air Pollution?
Source: NRDC
“Air pollution
may seem complex, but we can all do our part to reduce some of it.
Understanding the different types of pollution, namely agriculture, household,
industry, transport and how it affects our health and environment will help us
take steps towards improving the air around us.”
Air Pollution facts
·92 per cent of people worldwide do
not breathe clean air
·Air pollution costs the global
economy $5 trillion every year in welfare costs
·Ground-level ozone pollution is
expected to reduce staple crop yields by 26 per cent by 2030
·More than 6 billion people –
one-third of them children – regularly breathe air that is so polluted it puts
their health and well-being at risk.
“Today, we face
an equally urgent crisis. It is time to act decisively,” UN Secretary-General
António Guterres said in his official message for World Environment Day. “My
message to governments is clear: tax pollution; end fossil fuel subsidies; and
stop building new coal plants. We need a green economy not a grey economy.”
World Environment Day is celebrated on the
5th of June each year and is one of the UN’s most important environmental
days. It encourages worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our
environment. It is the ‘People’s Day’ for doing something positive for the
environment.World
Environment Day has gained tremendous momentum over the years. Since its
inception in 1974, it has grown to become a global platform for public outreach
that is widely celebrated in over 100 countries.
Theme for 2018
Each WED is organised around a theme that focuses attention on a particularly pressing environmental concern. This year's theme "Beat Plastic Pollution" was chosen by the host country, India.
Plastic pollution is a defining
environmental challenge. “Beat Plastic Pollution”, the theme for World
Environment Day 2018, also ties in with World Oceans Day’s 2018 theme of
“Prevent Plastic Pollution” that will take place on the 8th of June. The theme
was chosen by India, the host country.
It also is about considering how all of
us can make changes in our everyday lives in order to reduce the burden of
plastic pollution on not only our natural places and wildlife, but also our
health. All partners raise awareness and inspire action to form the global
movement needed to wholeheartedly combat plastic pollution. It promises to be
the largest and most consequential World Environment Day ever.They are going to
build on the global momentum to beat plastic pollution and use as a turning
point to people worldwide to do more than just clean up existing plastics, but
also focus their action upstream.
This year’s
World Environment Day provides an opportunity for each of us to embrace the
many ways that we can help to combat plastic pollution around the world. And
you don’t have to wait until 5 June to act. Nor do you have to take only take
action on the 5th June; preventing pollution can be part of your
green, everyday lifestyle.
Key
actions and message
An important message the day tries to
convey is in order to beat plastic pollution, we need to entirely rethink our
approach to designing, producing and using plastic products. Their goal is to
inspire solutions that will ultimately lead to sustainable behaviour change
upstream.They
are also calling on governments to enact robust legislation to curb the
production and use of unnecessary single-use plastics. Its aim is to harness
individual actions and transform them into a collective power that has a legacy
of real and lasting impact on the planet. They are working with education
partners to help them reconsider their plastic habits, generate solutions and
raise awareness. They want to inspire children on how they can take action to
protect the environment. Children can then spread this message to their parents
and, importantly, the wider community.
Plastic’s
impact on the environment and on humans
Although
plastic has many uses, people have become too reliant on single-use or
disposable plastic – with severe environmental consequences.
It is shocking to realize that:
·Every
year, 13 million tonnes of plastic enter our oceans, threatening marine and
human life and destroying our natural ecosystems. It smothers coral reefs and
threatens vulnerable marine wildlife.
·The
plastic ending up in the oceans can circle the earth four times in a single
year, and it can persist for up to 1,000 years before it fully disintegrates.
·Nearly
one third of the plastic packaging we use escapes collection systems, which
means that it ends up clogging our city streets and polluting our natural
environment.
·What
is even more worrisome is the fact that, around the world, 1 million plastic
drinking bottles are purchased EVERY MINUTE.
·Every
year we use up to 5 trillion disposable plastic bags. In total, 50 per cent of
the plastic we use is single use.
·Over
90% of bottled water and even 83% of tap water contain microplastic particles.Micro-beads
from beauty products and other non-recoverable materials also negatively impact
our environment.
·Plastic
also makes its way into our water supply – and thus into our bodies.
·Plastics
contain a number of chemicals, many of which are toxic or disrupt hormones.
·Plastics
can also serve as a magnet for other pollutants, including dioxins, metals and
pesticides.
Other
Global Plastic Pollution by Numbers
·Up
to 5 trillion plastic bags used each year
·17
million barrels of oil used on plastic production each year
·100,000
marine animals killed by plastics each year
·100
years for plastic to degrade in the environment
·90%
of bottled water found to contain plastic particles
·83%
of tap water found to contain plastic particles
·50%
of consumer plastics are single use
·10%
of all human-generated waste is plastic
What
needs to be done?
It requires a complete rethinking of the
way plastic is produced, used, and managed. Simply put: Our manufacturing,
distribution, consumption, and trade systems for plastic NEED to change. Items
that are merely thrown away immediately after a single use must stop. Individual
action alone cannot solve the problem of reducing our plastic footprint. It is
important that the problem is addressed at its source. Manufacturers must be
held to account for the entire life-cycle of their consumer products. Policymakers
and governments must safeguard precious environmental resources and public
health by encouraging sustainable production and consumption through
legislation. Focusing on the next generation is central to addressing the
plastic pollution issue.
What has been done
to curb plastic use?
Individuals, companies, and communities
have increasingly exercised their power as consumers. This has been evident especially
in supermarkets where people have, instead of using single-use plastic grocery
bags, have used recyclable material or paper bags. Many have also reconsidered
their purchase habits in supermarket aisles. People have also continuously
turned down plastic straws and cutlery and several restaurants have joined in a
campaign to not give any plastic straws out anymore. Beach clean-ups have also
taken enthusiastically place. While clean-ups may only address the plastic
issue at the end of its life cycle, they are a wonderful way to see the extent
of plastic waste first-hand and rethink their behaviour.
Is there something
else I can do, though?
Consumers
must not only be actors but drivers for the behaviour change that must also
happen upstream.
The main idea that this day wants to bring
across is:
If you can’t
reuse it, refuse it.
Furthermore, there are so many things that
we can do:
·Ask your restaurants to stop using
plastic straws
·Bringing your own coffee mug to work
·Pressure
your local authorities to improve how they manage your city’s waste.
·Bring
your own shopping bags to the supermarket
·Pressure
food suppliers to use non-plastic packaging
·Refuse
plastic cutlery
·Pick
up any plastic you see the next time you go for a walk on the beach
On social media
platforms you can share your ideas on social media using the hashtags
#BeatPlasticPollution #WorldEnvironmentDay #WED2018 and inspire other people to
also get involve.
Download the
Litterati app to track the plastic waste that gets collected. Click on www.litterati.org
and register what you collect so that it is included in the global total.
Encourage
another institution to make a plastic-reduction pledge: Make a commitment to
reduce your school, university, or organisation’s use of disposable plastic.
#BeatPlasticPollution game of tag
Join the global
#BeatPlasticPollution game of tag: Invite students and staff to take a selfie
with their canvas shopping bag, metal straw or any other reusable product and
tag five friends, telling them to do the same. The person tagged should post a
photo with their reusable item within 24 hours. You can also challenge other
institutions to join you in cleaning the planet: Announce that your school,
university, or organisation is cleaning up plastic litter in a park or public
space for World Environment Day. Challenge other to do the same.
You can also
host your own event and make it as fun, inspiring and interesting as you would
like.
You, as citizens,
must act as both consumers and informed citizens, demanding sustainable
products and embracing sensible consumption habits in your own lives.To
Beat Plastic Pollution, everyone needs step up and think about how they can not
only reduce, reuse and recycle, but seek to inspire behavioural changes.
Only when we all
come together, can we successfully combat one of the great environmental
challenges of our time.
Keep
close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a
mountain or spend a week in the woods - John Muir
Sooner
or later, we will have to recognize that the Earth has rights, too, to live
without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live
without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans - Evo Morales
Saving
our planet, advancing economic growth... these are one and the same fight. We
must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages,
global health, food security and women's empowerment. Solutions to one problem
must be solutions for all - Ban Ki-moon
Climate
change is happening, humans are causing it, and I think this is perhaps the
most serious environmental issue facing us - Bill Nye
Plant
together... let’s make the world greener – unknown
Nature
is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty - John Ruskin
World Environment Day (WED) takes place on
the 5th of June every year. This is a very relevant and important environmental
day, especially in light of the current environmental situations around the
world. The environment is currently in a dire state and is being degraded at a
tremendously fast pace.
It is the United Nation's principal
vehicle and is the biggest, most globally celebrated environmental days in
terms of positive environmental action. WED places an imperative spotlight on
protecting the environment and to inspire and motivate individuals,
communities, and organisations to reconnect with Mother Nature. The day is all
about imploring people to get outdoors and into nature so as to appreciate its
stunning beauty as well as nature’s importance. It is a day on which people can
reflect on their dependency on nature and how we are part of nature. It’s about
ensuring a cleaner and greener future. Essentially it is about deepening public
awareness of the need to preserve as well as enhance the environment. It’s
about doing something positive for Mother Nature. WED provides an ideal
opportunity for people to realize that they have a responsibility to care for
the Mother Nature. The day promotes ways to improve the planet's environment as
well as taking forward the call to protect the Earth that we share. It’s all
about stimulating awareness of the environment as well as enhancing political
attention and public action.It calls on people to show their love and affection for our shared natural world. World Environment Day is in spring in the Northern
Hemisphere and fall in the Southern Hemisphere.
It is about being engaged in activities
that serve to educate and improve people’s environment locally. WED is “the ‘people’s
day’ for doing something to take care of the Earth or become an agent of
change. That ‘something’ can be focused locally, nationally or globally; it can
be a solo action or involve a crowd – everyone is free to choose. Through WED,
the UN Environment Program (UNEP) enables everyone to realize not only the
responsibility of caring for the Earth, but it also reminds people of their
individual power to become agents of change. Every action counts, and when
multiplied, it has the potential to become exponential in its impact.This
observance provides an ideal opportunity to sign or ratify international
environmental conventions.
The main colors
featured in many promotions are natural colors (softer shades of green, brown
and blue), representative of Mother Nature and its natural resources. WED is
for everybody; it doesn’t matter where you live, albeit in cold or sunny areas,
in the city or the countryside.
History
In 1972, World Environment Day was
designated by the UN General Assembly on the first day of United Nations
Conference on the Human Environment, resulting from discussions on the
integration of human interactions and the environment. In 1974 the first WED
was held.
Since its inception, citizens from all
over the world have organized thousands of events, from neighborhood clean-ups, to replanting forests.Thus, for more than four decades, WED has
essentially raised awareness and supported action and change. More than 143
countries participate in this important day. It
commenced as a result of efforts of leading environmentalists who recognized
the need for there to be a coordinated global focus to begin to make conserving
the environment and our natural resources a priority.
The
Host
Every year, WED has a different global
host country where the official celebrations take place. This is to ensure and
highlight the environmental challenges it faces, as well as supports the effort
to address them. This year’s host country, Canada, chose the theme and will be
at the center of celebrations around the world.
Theme for 2017
There couldn’t be a more fitting theme for 2017 than ‘Connecting People to Nature - in the city
and on the land, from the poles to the equator’. For the youth, this theme
has particular relevance as children frequently don’t spend enough time in
nature anymore. Similarly, adults also, nowadays, don’t seem to spend quality
time outdoors. Corporations, NGOs, communities, celebrities, and governments
use this theme to adopt to advocate environmental causes and organize events
around the specific theme. Also, stakeholders and interested parties are encouraged
to add activities related to the environment for saving it and to motivate people
for taking initiative to achieve it too. This year, UNEP will strive to make WED epic. In support of the
2017 celebrations, the International Union for the Conservation
of Nature (IUCN) and the #NatureForAll campaign have helped inspire people to get out into nature and record
what they see.
In our modern world few of
us take enough time away from our daily lives to appreciate and
engage with our natural world. By celebrating this day surrounded by nature, we'll be able to rediscover the importance for caring for the environment so that it can care for us.
Why
is World Environment Day so important?
There's a closing window of opportunity to safeguard Earth’s capacity to support future generations. Meeting the immediate needs of growing human populations is threatening the equilibrium and viability of local and global ecosystems. Without public
awareness of the importance of the environment on a global scale, politics
won’t pay attention to changing legislation to govern practices that may be
hurting the environment.
When you create a group for World Environment Day, it’s a year round commitment
to advocacy and action in your local area, and on a global scale to promote and
encourage environmental responsibility and the conservation of natural
resources.
The
value of nature
The value of
nature is truly expansive. As the official World Environment Day website notes: “Scientific
advances and growing environmental problems (for example global warming) are
helping us to understand the countless ways in which natural systems support
our own prosperity and well-being”. It further explains that “the world’s
oceans, forests and soils act as vast stores for greenhouse gases such as
carbon dioxide and methane; farmers and fisher-folk harness nature on land and
under water to provide us with food”. Rural communities from all over the world
are well connected to nature as they spend every working day conscious of the
fact of their dependency on natural water supplies and are appreciative of the
fact that nature provides their livelihoods in the form of fertile soil. As a
result of this dependency, they are the first to suffer when ecosystems are
threatened and degraded due to factors such as pollution, climate change, and
over-exploitation. Furthermore, nature’s value
cannot only be measured in monetary value only. Just like clean air, it’s often
taken for granted, at least until they become scarce. Nature is a wonderful setting for fun and adventure, it promotes health and well-being, it acts as a laboratory for limitless scientific exploration, and connects young and old generations to cultural roots. Up close with
nature
When people forge personal connections with nature, the benefits to individual and societal health are endless and lay a foundation for lifelong support of nature conservation. Connecting to
nature doesn’t have to involve only one of your physical senses. Take off your
shoes and get your feet (and hands) dirty; take a night hike at night; and rely
on your ears and nose to experience nature. Luckily, for people in cities,
major parks can be seen as a green lung and a hub of biodiversity. In this
manner, people can still feel connected to nature. You can green your urban
environment too, by greening your street or a derelict site, or planting a
window box. Nature is there to be enjoyed all-year round. So,
how can you be part of this memorable day?
There
are a myriad of different WED activities in which all people can participate in.
Here are just some ideas:
·By
reconnecting with our beautiful planet!
·Go
outside! Enjoy some of your country’s national parks.
·Head
to the beach
·The
WED website suggest that while you’re there to set a challenge for yourself by
seeking out a rare mammal, identifying different butterfly species, and
reaching the remotest corner of the park. It will be worth your while.
·Join
a growing number of citizen scientists: Today, more than ever, smartphone apps
help you log your sightings and connect with others who can identify the
species. These records feed into conservation strategies and assist in mapping
the effects of climate change on biodiversity.
·Weed and fertilize public trees and
gardens.
·Eat organic food and make meals
from locally grown products.
·Collect trash in your vicinity.
·Think
about how you can help save energy and reduce your monthly electricity bill.
·Instead
of driving with your car, why not drive a bicycle instead?
·Hold a local educational forum
about global environmental issues and invite in speakers.
·By investing time in green spaces,
Mother Nature will become more important for people. So, thus, get out into a
local green space.
·Think about what you can do reduce
your carbon footprint as well as to be environmentally friendly as possible.
·Be green – literally! Wear green
clothes to show Mother Nature that you truly care for her and her wellbeing.
·Learn more about environmental
issues by conducting researching on these issues. Why not go a step further by
coming up with your own ideas on how you can control them.
·Buy items that are made up from
recycled products. Look out for recycle symbol on the packaged goods).
·Organise clean-up campaigns, art
exhibits, tree-planting drives, and concerts, recycling drives, and social
media campaigns.
·Do one thing differently to
increase how you benefit the environment.
·Show
that you’re #WithNature
·Use
other hashtags such as: #WED#WorldEnvironmentDay #WED2017#ILoveNature #ProtectMotherNature
You don’t have to only partake in
celebrations on the 5th of June only – make every day a #Nature day!
Mother Nature (and your health) will infinitely be happy! It’s so important to
remember that “by keeping our planet healthy, we keep ourselves healthy too”. Evidently,
we need harmony between humanity and nature in order for both to thrive.
