A group of enthusiasts and environmental protection activists have recently gathered and decided that there is still very much to do in order to reduce the levels of pollution on the planet.
What is the best way to approach the problem they have asked themselves? Clearly stricter environmental restrictions on big international companies are simply not enough, so what is needed is to get down on an every-day, common-people level. That is why this year was the first International Plastic Bag-Free Day – 3 July, that in addition to refusal to use plastic bags on part of all participants, has also been celebrated with a hash-tag on Twitter, which definitely helped spread the awareness of the issue.
The effect of the campaign has been pretty interesting:
- On an entirely European administration level, all EU ministers have been encouraged to pass a bill for severely limiting the use of single-use plastic bags throughout the Union, because they are known for being among the major causes for pollution of the environment.
- Brussels became the scene for a giant photo action event at which young people protested against the use of plastic bags.
- The campaign went world-wide when in the town of Pucon in Chile the local administration approved a law, that would be applied throughout this major South American tourist attraction, according to which a customer at any kind of shop would be permitted to purchase no more than one plastic bag at a time.
- Debates, radio programs and workshops on the issue of the use of plastic bags have been extensively organized and covered in Argentina too.
- Greece joined the cause with a performance given by the famous actress of Greek and American descent Angela Delichatsiou, who is a strong supporter of the ban on plastic bags in the European Union because of the disastrous effects that these products have on nature.
- A flash mob has been organized in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia on the Plastic Bag Free day too.
The list of related events is too long to be cited in its entirety, but you can easily get the gist – the awareness of that how everyday items and actions that we have perceived as a given only several years ago turn out be much more important than we can imagine. Pollution and climate change are according to some of the most renowned scientists of our time the biggest problem mankind is going to face in the 21st century, and is why causes such as the Plastic Bag Free Day are important. They spread awareness and educate the population of the planet on how they can help make the world a better place to live – for us and the generations to come.
If you want to join the fight for better protection of nature, you can do it by optimizing your waste clearance and junk removal processes, by recycling more and avoiding using materials that pollute the eco-system when there are greener and actually better alternatives.