Earth Day 2024 is one of the most prominent awareness days that sheds light on the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability. It’s about coming together to actively reflect and change our habits for the sake of the planet’s health and future generations.

This year, the theme is Planet vs Plastics. With over 380 million tons of plastic being produced each year, its vital that we work towards ending its production. Yes, this might sound like an impossible feat. But this year, Earth Day is demanding a 60% reduction in the production of plastics by 2040, with the ultimate goal of ending plastic production altogether.

With plastics now being found in babies’ blood streams, carrying cancer-causing toxins, the use of this material is affecting our health now more than ever.

We caught up with Jack from the Student Green Office (SGO) to get his take on this year’s Planet vs Plastics theme for Earth Day 2024 and what we’re doing as a University to help reduce our plastic use.

The effects of plastics on our society and our bodies

“Whilst we recognise that plastics can be incredibly useful and versatile, they do come at a cost. The process of making and refining the fuels that create the plastics contributes massively to global warming.

Not to mention the pollution to our seas and wildlife – we’ve all seen the photos of fish and tortoises tangled in discarded plastic. There’s also such a risk from microplastics. Whilst it’s still being researched there’s now a wealth of evidence that shows it poses significant health risks.

Particularly focusing on Earth Day’s report into humans and plastics, it’s worrying to see the health effects including hormone imbalances, miscarriage, and male fertility decline.”

What we’ve done to reduce our plastic use

“Whilst it seems too late to stop the production of plastics, there are things that we can all do to help minimise and hopefully eradicate these issues.

We’re doing a lot around CCCU to help reduce the use of plastics, with an emphasis on reducing and reusing rather than just recycling. Recycling plastics doesn’t do a whole lot to reduce our overall carbon emissions and doesn’t tackle the issue of shedding microplastics into our bodies and natural world.

So, our aim is to focus on reuse and reduce, as well as recycle.

Here’s what we’ve done so far:

• We’ve been a 0% waste to landfill university for just over a decade now. Our waste contractor Countrystyle recycles all So, although we are making efforts to reducewaste, the waste we do produce is all processed locally in the South East.
• The Student Green Office (SGO) is working with the School of Arts & Culture to deliver their workshop ToteLab. Our aim is to teach staff and students to upcycle and raise awareness to help everyone make more informed decisions about their purchasing behaviour.
• Our Catering department has massively reduced single use plastic and now use alternative products such as aluminium cans, reusable cups, and water bottles etc.
• We also have monthly visits from the Refillable Van where staff and students can refill their products in a simple and sustainable way. They can buy toiletries, dry foods, and other refillable products each week on our Canterbury Campus.”

A pledge to do one thing to reduce our plastic use

“If we remain mindful then we can all contribute to the goal of reducing our use of plastics. One way to do this is to use alternative materials such as wood and glass. For example, using a reusable coffee cup for your morning coffee is so easy to do and will contribute greatly to Earth Day’s goal.”

We’re sure that we can all agree that making one small change to reduce our plastic use is a simple and effective way to help in the fight to end plastic production, particularly of single use plastics, as it’s so detrimental to our environment and our bodies.

So, we’re off to give our refillable cups and pots a wash ready to use. What will you do to reduce your plastic use?

If you’re a student and you want to get involved in what we’re doing, or you’re looking to join us and find out what’s happening around our community, then check out the range of events  and exhibitions that are happening around campus.