Small changes do add up and you can start now! The 16th of June is World Refill Day to raise awareness of plastic pollution and to help people live with less waste!
This global movement was put in place due to the throwaway culture we live in. This throwaway culture is polluting the planet, impacting communities and contributing to the climate crisis. By choosing to reuse plastic, we are reducing the footprint of plastic in different sites across the globe.
Plastic is not only polluting the planet but it is slowly creeping into our bodies through the air we breathe and the food we eat.
In spring 2022, scientists from the UK and Netherlands announced that they had found tiny plastic particles in living humans within the lungs and blood. These results are alarming as plastic as we all know should not be inside us.
But that is not all, here are some shocking facts about plastic from the World Refill Day website:
- We create more than 300 million tonnes of plastic every year. Half of this is single-use.
- Globally, less than 2% of packaging is reusable.
- Less than 10% of the plastic we use has ever been recycled
- By 2050, virtually every seabird species on the planet will be eating plastic.
- Around the world, nearly a million plastic beverage bottles are sold every minute.
Reducing the use of plastic is important and we need to do more! Plastic production requires enormous amounts of energy and resources which causes carbon emissions. Once we limit plastic production we prevent pollution, save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
We can help save our planet by starting now and doing this together! Here are some tips on how to get started!
- Download the FREE Refill app to find thousands of places around the world to eat, drink and shop with less waste!
- Find public water fountains to refill your bottle!
- Carry a shopping bag with you to prevent you from buying plastic bags! Making small changes can have a big impact on the plastic we use daily.
- Use your voice by writing to MPs or through your social media posts by adding the hashtag #WorldRefillDay! Raise awareness on this and call out to big brands and polluters because we need to let them know that it is time to act now!
- Don’t forget to visit Refashion My Town and engage with our workshops that will discuss hot topics like this!
No matter how small or how big the change is, it is progress and we want to see this progress. Please share what you are doing by tagging @RefashionMyTown on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with the hashtags #WorldRefillDay #RefillRevolution!
References
https://www.refill.org.uk/world-refill-day/
https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/10-shocking-facts-about-plastic https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/9-ways-reduce-plastic-use/