Nations are calling for a 60% reduction in plastic use by 2040

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Judith Enck says she avoids packaged carrots in the supermarket to avoid what she calls ‘plastic coffins’.

“It’s very handy to have those small, pre-cut carrots. But I like to buy carrots without packaging and all you have to do is wash and cut them yourself. They actually taste much fresher and are cheaper than the plastic bags of carrots. Even small steps make a difference, because large supermarkets notice when people ask for less packaged material. Our children are also paying attention.”

Avoiding plastic when grocery shopping may seem like a small step for the environment, but organizations like the United Nations say every small decision, like avoiding packaged carrots, helps.

The UN Environment Program has warned that plastic is now part of the Earth’s fossil record and a marker of our current geological era.

Global campaigns are demanding the phase-out of single-use plastics, which are polluting the seas and taking up space in landfills for decades.

These efforts are especially in focus as Earth Day 2024 is celebrated around the world – with project directors like Diego Trincado doing their part for the environment by breathing new life into discarded clothing in Chile.

“It was shocking to be able to look through the clothing on site and see the amount of clothing in that location, along with the volunteers that were there. We were digging up clothes that came from other countries, some with labels, and we saw that we had a job there and something to do.”

The world currently produces approximately 400 million tons of plastic waste annually, of which less than 10 percent is recycled.

In Thailand, divers are working to untangle fishing equipment that gets stuck in coral and traps marine life.

“We collect discarded fishing gear all the time. We have a strong diving community. There are many government sectors working on this cleanup dive. But even though waste collection takes place, there is no uniform data collection. Some people collect waste and take it to the dump. Some people collect and weigh it, or count pieces, but there is still no standard for collecting data from this waste.”

The theme ‘Planet vs Plastics’ was chosen in view of the historic United Nations Plastics Convention, which is expected to be adopted at the end of 2024.

More than 50 countries, including Australia, have demanded an end to plastic pollution by 2040.

In Lima, Peru, about 150 volunteers celebrated Earth Day by planting more than 500 trees.

Environmentalist Arturo Alfaro says they chose an arid part of the city on the banks of the Chillon River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean.

“A forested area improves the climate. Now we are here and we are very warm. If the forest had already grown, the temperature would be lower. At night the plants give off the heat and we can have a warmer night. And We can make everyone know about the oxygen that forests generate.”

Negotiations are underway in Canada on what would be the first global treaty to tackle rising plastic pollution.

But it won’t be easy, as the plastics industry and oil exporters like Saudi Arabia oppose the phase-out of plastic and argue that the treaty should instead focus on recycling and reuse.

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