- Wednesday 18 April 2018
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Earth Day is an annual event dedicated to promoting strategies for environmental protection and restoring the planet's health. This year’s theme is ‘Ending Plastic Pollution’, with the goal date Earth Day 2020.
Why is ending plastic pollution so important?
- There are an estimated 5.25 billion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Discarded plastic has even been found on uninhabited South Pacific islands.
- It is estimated that plastic kills up to 1 million sea birds, 100 000 sea mammals and countless fish each year, with many getting entangled in plastic six-pack rings, plastic strapping and nylon ropes.
- Broken-down plastic particles can attract toxic chemicals built up over decades from industry and agriculture, which increase in concentration as they move up the food chain.
As a publisher of printed material, R.I.C. works hard to reduce the impact we have on the environment. Our newly established ‘Team Green’ is working hard to make the office even more environmentally friendly and do our part to reduce plastic pollution.
Here are some of the new initiatives we’ve put in place:
- specific paper and plastic recycling bins, as well as ‘Why recycle?’ posters for education and motivation
- cold water filters to eliminate the use of plastic bottles (By using our awesome new filters, we’re reducing our plastic output by over 3500 bottles per year!)
- a ‘think before you print’ policy to encourage people to save paper by encouraging smart printing
Do you and your students have strategies to reduce your plastic use? We’d love to hear about them!
To learn how to get your students involved, visit <https://www.earthday.org/educate2018/>.
For a fun, eye-opening and educational activity, try: <http://oceangeneration.org/gaming/the-big-catch/>