THIS Sunday, April 22, the world will celebrate the 48th Earth Day. This environmental event begun in the United States in September 1969 when Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) proposed the idea for a nationwide teach-in about the environment.
On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day took place across the United States. Approximately 20 million people took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment.
The movement led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
In 1990, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
This year, Earth Day will focus on the menace of plastic pollution. The Earth Day Network encourages us to use these ten shocking facts about the scope of plastic pollution to educate, inspire and mobilize friends, family, coworkers and our community to join the movement to end plastic pollution.
FACT #. 1 - 8.3 billion Metric Tons of plastic has been produced since plastic was introduced in the 1950s. The amount of plastic produced in a year is roughly the same as the entire weight of humanity.
FACT #2 - Virtually every piece of plastic that was ever made still exists in some shape or form (with the exception of the small amount that has been incinerated).
FACT #3 - 91% of plastic waste isn’t recycled. And since most plastics don’t biodegrade in any meaningful sense, all that plastic waste could exist for hundreds or even thousands of years.
FACT #4 - 500 million plastic straws are used every day in America. That’s enough to circle the Earth twice.
FACT # 5 - Nearly two million single-use plastic bags are distributed worldwide every minute.
FACT #6 - 100 billion plastic bags are used by Americans every year. Tied together, they would reach around the Earth’s equator 773 times!
FACT #7 – one million plastic bottles are bought every minute around the world — and that number will top half a trillion by 2021. Less than half of those bottles end up getting recycled.
FACT #8 - 8 million metric tons of plastic winds up in our oceans each year. That’s enough trash to cover every foot of coastline around the world with five full trash bags of plastic...compounding every year.
FACT #9 - There is more micro plastic in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way.
FACT #10 - If plastic production isn’t curbed, plastic pollution will outweigh fish pound for pound by 2050.
In our own little way, avoid the use of plastic bags by using green bags or reusable bags, avoid too many packaging, drink water from glass, avoid disposables and buy goods in bulk.