Launched by the NGO Earth Day, World Earth Day 2024 is focused on the ecological and health impact of plastic
World Earth Day 2024 is the 54th edition of the global event born in 1970
Plastic is a threat to humanity and all living creatures, jeopardizing the delicate balance of ecosystems. This is why “Planet vs Plastic” is the theme of World Earth Day 2024, which today, April 22, reaches its 54th edition.
World Earth Day is the largest environmental event on the planet. It was first celebrated in the United States in 1970, a year after the accident at an oil rig off Santa Barbara, California. The event caused the release of about ten million liters of oil into the sea for 11 days. Since then, the Earth Day movement has grown steadily and today involves up to a billion people every year in 193 countries around the world.
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Ending the plastic age for the good of humanity
It is organized by the homonymous NGO, which this year launched the political demand to put an end to plastic for the sake of human health and the planet. In particular, the organization calls for a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.
To achieve this, Earth Day proposes a series of actions for governments and businesses.
- Promote widespread public awareness of the damage caused by plastics to human, animal and all biodiversity health.
- Call for more research into its health implications
- Rapidly eliminate all disposable plastics by 2030 and achieve this phasing-out commitment in the UN Treaty to be approved in 2024
- Demand policies that end the scourge of fast fashion and the large amount of plastic it produces and uses
- Invest in innovative technologies and materials to build a plastic-free world.
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“The word environment means what surrounds us,” said Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day. “In the case of plastic, we have become the product itself: it flows into our bloodstream, adheres to our internal organs and carries heavy metals known to be the cause of cancer and disease. Now this product, which was once thought surprising and useful, has become something else, and our health and that of all other living creatures is on the balance. The Planet vs. Plastics campaign is a call to arms, a request to take action now to end the scourge of plastic and safeguard the health of every living being on our planet”.
