When is Earth Day?
Earth Day is celebrated globally every year on 22 April. It’s a significant day of political action and civic participation towards preserving the planet.
What is Earth Day
First celebrated on 22 April 1970, Earth Day is celebrated every year to take action to protect the earth. It was founded by US Senator, Gaylord Nelson, which was focused on stopping pollution in some places like Cuyahoga River. It was a national teach-in program on the environment which shifted its focus globally after 20 years to combat the challenges faced by earth like global warming and climate change.
Various events and awareness campaigns are held globally every year to support protection of the environment.
According to the Earth Day Network, a US non-profit organisation, more than 1 billion people from 192 countries participate in Earth Day events worldwide.
Earth Day 2018 theme
Earth Day 2018 theme is ‘End Plastic Pollution’.
According to Earth Day network, plastic is poising marine life and its presence in food is disrupting human hormones and causing many life-threating diseases. The days this year is dedicated to providing the information and inspiration needed to eventually end plastic pollution and degrading the use of plastic in our normal life.
We use plastic mostly in our daily life such as bags, utensils, plates, bottles, and cups. Some of it gets recycled but most of it ends up in landfills or littered ones get into our waterways.
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Plastic is not biodegradable and lasts forever as they have strong chemical bonds that simply make them last longer.
In Pakistan, experts have warned that the use of plastic is increasing posing serious threats to freshwater and marine ecology. “Plastic pollution is posing a serious threat to marine life and its ecosystem. The issue of plastic pollution along Pakistan’s coast is a major concern and is worsening due to an inadequate solid waste disposal system in the city. Most plastics that enter the sea become a serious threat to marine life due to its non-degradable nature”, says Professor Omm-e-Haney, the director of the Institute of Environmental Science at Karachi University.
Plastic pollution is increased at such a rate that we can’t completely overcome it but we can try to reduce the pollution at least. We must change our lifestyles. We should stop using disposable items and prefer paper bags instead of the plastic ones. Higher authorities should also take benevolent action in this regard.
