Group To Mark Earth Day/March for Science to Tackle Plastic Pollution

A loose-Knit coalition of organizations and individuals have joined heads to commemorate the Earth Day and March for Science Day Celebration on Saturday 21st April, 2018 in Accra at the Afia Beach hotel under the theme, “Eradicating Plastic Pollution.”

Available records from the city authority, Accra Metropolitan Assembly indicate that out of the over 2,500 tons of waste generated daily, only 1,125 tons representing 45 percent is collected. The remaining 55 per cent, mainly plastics, remain in the system. Arithmetically, about 501,875 tons of plastics are produced annually. Where do they go?

Speaking at a news conference in Accra, a Member of the Earth Day Steering Committee In-charge of Media, Divine Agborli said the aim of the event is to propose viable solutions towards addressing the plastic waste menace in the country.

He noted that the increasing rate of plastic waste, aside creating filth in gutters and huge mess on the environment is threatening both lives and planet’s survival.

Mr. Agborli added they will use the occasion to establish a broad ongoing all-year movement to galvanize genuine environmental concern among the general public and promote science-based policy making on locally relevant environmental issues.

He added that one of the major challenges regarding plastic waste pollution is behavioral change indicating that there will be a two prong approach using behavioral change communication strategies combined with public education and awareness creation.

According to him, they will also inspire and support individuals on how to reclaim the plastic waste materials from the environment and recycle them into designs and artworks which can be used in our various home and offices.

The Community Organizer of Environment 360°, Maurice Caschinco emphasized the need for us as citizens to face our own problems using new ways and methods to address them.

According to him, the plastic waste pollution in the country especially in the cities and towns has become the major cause of outbreak of diseases and disasters in the country.

He therefore call on every Ghanaian to join them celebrate the day and promote good habit and practices wherever they find themselves.

About Earth Day Celebration
It is a day of political action and civic participation. People march, sign petitions, meet with their elected officials, plant trees, clean up their towns and roads. Corporations and governments use it to make pledges and announce sustainability measures.

Faith leaders, including Pope Francis, connect Earth Day with protecting God’s greatest creations, humans, biodiversity and the planet that we all live on.

Earth Day Network, the organization that leads Earth Day worldwide, announced that Earth Day 2018 will focus on mobilizing the world to End Plastic Pollution, including creating support for a global effort to eliminate single-use plastics along with global regulation for the disposal of plastics.

EDN will educate millions of people about the health and other risks associated with the use and disposal of plastics, including pollution of our oceans, water, and wildlife, and about the growing body of evidence that decomposing plastics are creating serious global problems.

From poisoning and injuring marine life to the ubiquitous presence of plastics in our food to disrupting human hormones and causing major life-threatening diseases and early puberty, the exponential growth of plastics is threatening our planet’s survival. EDN has built a multi-year campaign to End Plastic Pollution. Their goals include ending single-use plastics, promoting alternatives to fossil fuel-based materials, promoting 100 percent recycling of plastics, corporate and government accountability and changing human behavior concerning plastics.

EDN’s End Plastic Pollution campaign includes four major components:

Leading a grassroots movement to support the adoption of a global framework to regulate plastic pollution.

Educating, mobilizing and activating citizens across the globe to demand that governments and corporations control and clean up plastic pollution.

Educating people worldwide to take personal responsibility for plastic pollution by choosing to reject, reduce, reuse and recycle plastics, and promoting local government regulatory and other efforts to tackle plastic pollution.

Earth Day Network will leverage the platform of Earth Day and the growing interest in the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2020 as a catalyst for global action.