By Mary Young
When you hike a trail at Spruce Mountain, Sandstone Ranch or another Douglas Land Conservancy open space property, do you stop and pick up random plastic trash someone has carelessly left? Do you avoid single-use plastic bottles by bringing your water in a reusable bottle? Or pack your lunch in a reusable container instead of a disposable sandwich bag?
Then hooray, you are meeting the goal of this year’s World Environment Day!
World Environment Day (WED) is an annual event, designated by the United Nations in 1972. It is celebrated every June 5th with the goal of making people, communities, governments and groups like DLC all over the globe aware of the many challenges faced by Earth’s environment and encouraging them to take action.
The theme of this year’s WED is Beat Plastic Pollution. We all know the world is awash with plastic waste. We’ve read about the massive Great Pacific Garbage Patch twice the size of Texas and made up mainly of plastic debris. We hear how microplastics are everywhere, including accumulated in our bodies. Working to reduce plastic pollution is one of the greatest ways to help the health of the environment, and of people and wildlife.
While WED works to highlight problems, it also showcases solutions, inspiring people and groups everywhere to take actions that improve the health of Earth. This year, events and activities will take place in over 140 countries.
Maybe this June 5th you can celebrate World Environment Day by gathering your hiking buddies and visiting a public open space for a Beat Plastic Pollution Party. Pick up plastic and other trash and recycle or dispose of it appropriately. How about the prize for collecting the most plastic waste is a batch of chocolate chip cookies—in a reusable container!
photo: Michael Ryno