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Manila Bulletin

Environment and Sustainability

Earth Day 2024 calls for a plastic-free planet

Environment and Sustainability

Earth Day 2024 calls for a plastic-free planet

Plastics are now both an environmental and health issue

By Mat Richter

The world will celebrate Earth Day, the “largest environmental movement” seeking to mobilize global stakeholders, including the average citizen, this April 22, 2024 under the theme “Planet vs. Plastics.”

According to organizer Earthday.org, we are collectively responsible for achieving a plastic-free world. “Our theme, ‘Planet vs. Plastics,’ calls to advocate for widespread awareness on the health risks of plastics, rapidly phase out all single-use plastics, urgently push for a strong UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution, and demand an end to fast fashion,” explained the organization.

Striving for a 60 percent reduction in plastic production by 2040, Earthday.org seeks to invest in innovative technologies and materials for a plastic-free future. The 54th Earth Day also underscores the need for further research on plastics' health impacts on biodiversity.

“Now, this once-thought amazing and useful product has become something else, and our health and that of all other living creatures hangs in the balance," said Earthday.org President Kathleen Rogers. “The ‘Planet vs. Plastics’ campaign is a call to arms, a demand that we act now to end the scourge of plastics and safeguard the health of every living being upon our planet.”

The inaugural Earth Day occurred in 1970 in the United States, where some 20 million people nationwide, mostly students, took part in demanding environmental protection.

Related Tags

Earth Day 2024 Earthday.org Kathleen Rogers MBEnvironment

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