APPEAL OF THE DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT FOR
WORLD EARTH DAY 2018
Theme: “End Plastic Pollution”
World Earth Day is celebrated every year as an annual event by the people all across the world on 22nd of April in order to increase the awareness among people about the Environment safety as well as to demonstrate the Environmental Protection measures. First world earth day was celebrated in the year 1970 and then started celebrating annually on global basis by almost 192 countries.
Earth Day Network (EDN), an organization that leads Earth Day worldwide, today announced that Earth Day 2018 will focus on mobilizing the world to End Plastic Pollution, including creating support for a global effort to eliminate single-use plastics along with global regulation for the disposal of plastics. EDN will educate millions of people about the health and other risks associated with the use and disposal of plastics, including pollution of oceans, water, and wildlife, and also about the growing body of evidence that decomposing plastics are creating serious global problems.
From poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our waste streams and landfills, the exponential growth of plastics is now threatening the survival of our planet. In response, Earth Day 2018 is dedicated to providing the information and inspiration needed to fundamentally change human attitude and behavior about plastics. Our goals include ending single-use plastics, promoting alternatives to fossil fuel-based materials, promoting 100 percent recycling of plastics, corporate and government accountability and changing human behavior concerning plastics.
EDN’s End Plastic Pollution campaign includes four major components:
- Leading a grassroot movement to support the adoption of a global framework to regulate plastic pollution.
- Educating, mobilizing and activating citizens across the globe to demand that Governments and corporations control and clean up plastic pollution.
- Educating people worldwide to take personal responsibility for plastic pollution by choosing to reject, reduce, reuse and recycle plastics.
- Work with universities, school teachers and students to End Plastic Pollution.
- Work with other organizations and networks and make Earth Day 2018 a platform to End Plastic Pollution by developing resources that others can use and build partnerships.
- Promoting local government regulatory and other efforts to tackle plastic pollution.
Responsibility to End Plastic Pollution
Plastic are produced each year to make bags, bottles, packages, and other commodities for people all over the world. Unfortunately, only about ten percent of this plastic is properly recycled and reused. The rest ends up as waste in landfills or as litter in our natural environment, where it leaches dangerous chemicals into the nearby soil and water, endangering humans and wildlife alike. Plastic pollution is not only impacting our waters and marine life, but also the food chain and our overall health. Earth Day Network is mobilizing key actors and institutions and citizens across the globe to bring about a new level of consciousness about plastics pollution and a paradigm shift. The world must perceive plastics not only as the environmental challenge of global proportions but a symbol of the values that need to change to build a more sustainable and just world. People who participate in the event celebration, make an earth planet using green and blue colors to indicate the life of animals, plants and symbolize their natural recycling including the green house effect and global warming.
There are many ways to celebrate the earth day:
- New trees may be planted at required places.
- Motivate people to reduce the use of plastic bags to avoid the soil and water pollution.
- Teach your children about the recycling and reuse of the old materials.
- Take part in the amusement activities like singing a song related to the Earth safety to attract more people to the event celebration.
- Take part in the educational sessions like seminars, discussions and other competitive activities related to the safety of natural resources of the earth.
- Motivate people by wearing green, brown or blue clothes for displaying the environmental colors.
- Teach people that every day of their life is earth day, so they should take care of the earth on daily basis.
On this World Earth Day, we will engage and activate our NGO, students and teachers. We will organize events for all citizens to join our End Plastic Pollution advocacy campaigns. We will use the power of Earth Day to elevate the issue of plastic pollution in the global level and inspire and demand effective action to reduce and control it.
I once again urge all communities to join us to achieve this year's theme.