Take action on One Plastic Free Day for a healthier, unpolluted future

Plastic pollution in the Maldives

Whether you like it or not, single-use plastic must go. Yes, it can be useful, it can be convenient, cheap and easy to produce – but it’s harming the planet and that’s reason enough to get rid of it.

It’s a bit of a no-brainer really. Much single-use plastic isn’t essential and can be replaced with many varieties of reusable alternatives. It’s easy enough to do, so why aren’t we doing it? Why are single-use plastics still lining the shelves of supermarkets?

Everywhere we look, we’re overwhelmed by the plastic which is slowly taking hold of peoples’ lives and that’s why we are urging global participation on One Plastic Free Day, today (5 June).

Campaign image from One Plastic Free Day

Campaign founder Sian Sutherland said: “One Plastic Free Day will touch the lives of millions of people around the world.” And we can all get involved in lots of ways.

You have probably heard of Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist who has inspired millions of people by her powerful speeches and protests about climate change. She is speaking out for the planet, for generations who are going to have to live with the choices of their ancestors. Young people around the world are asking that our generation and their children’s generation do not have their lives compromised by decisions made by politicians who do not care about our planet.

Plastic is polluting our oceans and poisoning animals. Data shows that between 4.8-12.7 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean each year. It has also been shown that 83 per cent of the water which is consumed worldwide contains plastic.

This is completely unacceptable.

So why not join millions of people worldwide in One Plastic Free Day 2019? Join in by raising awareness about unnecessary use of plastics and unsustainable use of our Earth. By simply taking a photo of unnecessary single-use plastic, labelling it with the hashtag #oneplasticfreeday and tagging the company, you can help show the world that we need to reduce single-use plastic, and fast, if we want to save the future of our planet.

Do we really need to wrap bananas in plastic when they already have natural packaging?

In addition, we can help reduce single-use plastics in so many ways – from buying reusable metal water bottles to saying no to straws and bringing your own takeaway cup with you to coffee shops!

We only have one planet but our use of resources implies that we would need many more to sustain our lifestyles. We have to face the fact that our lifestyles have to change! We have to do something about our use of single-use plastics.

So, whether it be by small changes – taking a photo and labelling it with #oneplasticfreeday or large changes such as going on a strike and campaigning about climate change, we can all make a difference. Just take a look at Greta Thunberg and be inspired.

We can all make a difference.