How to help fight plastic pollution for World Environment Day

June 5 is World Environment Day, a day that represents the single largest celebration of our environment. Since it first began in 1974, it has become a global platform for public outreach around the world. 

Every year, World Environment Day has a host and a theme. The United Nations has named India as the 2018, and their theme is “Beating Plastic Pollution.”

Plastic pollution is one of the greatest threats to our planet’s ecosystems today. According to the UN, the world uses up to 5 billion plastic bags each year. Another 13 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year. That’s the equivalent of a garbage truck full of plastic every single minute.

Half of all the plastic we produce is single-use or disposable. The world buys 1 million plastic bottles every minute. In the last decade, the world has produced more plastic than we have in the last century.

So how do we beat plastic pollution? The UN is encouraging everyone to play a game of “plastic pollution tag.” Here’s how you do it:

  • Choose a type of single-use plastic you’re ready to give up.
  • Take a selfie with a reusable alternative you’re going to use in its place.
  • Share that selfie to social media with the hashtags #BeatPlasticPollution and #WorldEnvironmentDay. Tag three friends and challenge them to do the same within 24 hours!

We might create plastic pollution, but if we work together, we can help end it, too.