Few weeks after the Earth Hour, another major environmental event took place last Sunday: Earth Day. This movement aims to demonstrate support for environmental protection and emphasise the needs to protect the planet and environment.

Starting in the US in 1970, the event went global 20 years later and has now reached 192 countries and over one billion people have taken part this year.

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 every year with the objective to encourage people to take care of the planet by recycling, planting trees or using solar power. More than a billion people were expected to celebrate Earth Day last Sunday including Leonardo di Caprio and Emma Watson, ambassadors of the movement.

This year, the event focused on plastic pollution with the launch of the campaign called End Plastic Pollution. According to study, 32 percent of the 78 million tonnes of plastic packaging produced annually end up in the ocean – the equivalent of pouring one garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute!

Actions and events took place across the globe such as marches, petitions, tree planting and town clean-ups. The idea is to spread awareness about pollution caused by plastics, educating about the risk associated with single-use plastics and creating support for the creation of global regulations.

Earth Day 2018 focused on ending plastic pollution

An action toolkit can also be downloaded on the Earth Day website for those who would like to work out how much plastic they are consuming and to reduce their plastic footprint. Some simple actions can also be taken to reduce your personal use such as: using reusable shopping bags, containers and bottles, avoiding the use of plastic straws, preferring boxes instead of bottles…

For more information, you can visit the Earth Day website www.earthday.org.

While embracing the Earth Day, act for the planet and reduce your carbon footprint (and your energy bill) by switching to solar! Call Energis today on 1300 782 217, or send us an enquiry.