The darkness was giving way to light. The birds who are always the earliest of the block were chirping away merrily in the trees. We felt that strange exhilaration that one feels when one is up with the early birds and in the midst of nature.
The waves of the Arabian Sea rose and fell towards our right while the rosy glow of the rising sun lit up the skies towards our left. We were in Gokarna, India hiking from the Gokarna Beach towards the Kudle Beach.
As we breathed in the fresh morning air blowing in from the sea, we felt we were in paradise.
We took a narrow path that descended down towards the Kudle beach and was covered by a canopy of trees. We felt one with nature and marveled at the mastery of the master who must have handcrafted the wonderful elements of nature.
As we walked towards the surging Arabian Sea, silently communing with nature, our utopian moment was brought to a rude halt. A look towards our right where there was a ditch skirting the narrow path made us exclaim in horror!
The ditch was filled with all sorts of plastic. Plastic bottles, plastic bags, plastic wrappers were strewn mercilessly all along the length of the path. It was painful to see this brazen violation of mother nature. We picked up as much of the trash we could and disposed of them in a trash bin that we found at some distance.
But alas, many more of the plastic trash still lies there, like tears on the cheek of nature.
Wherever you go be it to a beach or hill or forest, plastic waste rears its ugly head.
Plastic pollution has become the scourge of our planet and has assumed endemic proportions.
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Did you know that the world has produced more plastic in the last 10 years than it has done in the whole of the last century
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Fifty percent of the plastic the world uses is single-use plastic
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It is estimated that the world uses close to 13 trillion plastic bags every year
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It is estimated that about 5 million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the oceans
At this rate, the waterbodies of the world will soon be full of plastic garbage instead of marine life. Today plastic has made its way into the bodies of marine life and seabirds. It is a matter of time before plastic will be found in the bodies of humans.
The theme for this year’s World Environment Day is, “Beat Plastic Pollution”. This year India is the host of the World Environment Day.
Responsible Travel And Plastic Pollution
We, travelers, are indeed a privileged and blessed lot. We get to see more of this beautiful earth that we call our home.
World organizations, countries, and other NGO’s are all working towards beating plastic pollution. A small country like Rwanda shows the way to the world by having banned the use of nonbiodegradable polythene bags.
But as individuals and individual travelers can we do something to help in combating plastic pollution? How can we be responsible travelers and tourists and help save the environment from being desecrated?
Yes, there are many ways that one can help in beating plastic pollution.
Here are some actions that a responsible traveler can take immediately to beat plastic pollution.
- Reduce the use of plastic in one’s personal life
- Say no to single-use plastic, carry your own reusable water bottle and say no to single-use plastic water bottles while traveling and otherwise
- Say no to plastic carry bags and substitute with cloth, jute or bags made of natural fibers
- Carry your own coffee mug and say no the plastic cups in which beverages are served
- If you are carrying food on your travel have them packed in a lunch box and avoid plastic wrappers
- The most important action for travelers is to dispose off any plastic that they may use appropriately in the places they travel to
- Travelers and especially travel bloggers and social media influencers can play a great role by spreading the word about saying no to plastic and beating plastic pollution
Beat Plastic Pollution Challenge-Each one pick one
We challenge and request everyone who reads this to take a pledge to beat plastic pollution in whatever capacity they can.
One small action of yours can result in a big movement for mankind against plastic pollution.
The next time when you are on a beach, island, mountain, waterfall, river, lake, forest, or any other place, if you see plastic waste around, pick up at least one plastic bag or plastic bottle and ensure it is disposed off appropriately. A few minutes of your time could probably save the life of a fish or whale or seabird.
So add this to your one quote to your packing list or travel list or checklist, wherever you go:
“Each one pick one”
Let us together move forward and vow to help preserve the environment and the beauty of the planet for ourselves, our kids, their kids, and for the generations to come.
Voyager – Sandy N Vyjay on Twitter: “Do your mite in the fight against Plastic pollution, the scourge of our planet, and pledge to reduce plastic pollution, take the pledge by giving a missed call to 18001371999 #BeatPlasticPollution #WED2018 @ficci_india @moefcc @drharshvardhan @asoulwindow @IndraniTweeets @Mucyo33 pic.twitter.com/mu0oAfx9mg / Twitter”
Do your mite in the fight against Plastic pollution, the scourge of our planet, and pledge to reduce plastic pollution, take the pledge by giving a missed call to 18001371999 #BeatPlasticPollution #WED2018 @ficci_india @moefcc @drharshvardhan @asoulwindow @IndraniTweeets @Mucyo33 pic.twitter.com/mu0oAfx9mg
Do you want to know how to travel the world? We have put together a very useful travel resources page with best travel tips. Go check it out now.
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Amen to this guys. I consume less and less, recycle a bunch more and always toss out plastic. Honestly I do not think I polluted once in my life. My mom would have kicked my butt LOL.
This is a good reminder that everybody should do their part. I am trying to use as little plastic as I can myself but I admit it is quite difficult sometimes. I am quite impressed by Rwanda though! excellent article!
This is a terrific article. I’m sorry you had to write it, but indeed … plastic is a problem in virtually every corner of the world. I live by Lake Winnipeg in Canada, and our small string of lakeside communities is really beginning to make a conscious effort to reduce the use and misuse of plastic. I am horrified when I travel around the world and see piles of plastic garbage alongside the roads and trails, and on the beaches destroying the natural beauty and balance of our planet.
This is a timely article as they just found a dead whale who dies because he ate so much plastic. We cannot pollute our planet for much longer or we are going to kill all our food supply!
Whenever I see plastic bottles on the ground, I pick them up and dispose of them properly. It’s so sad to see how much plastic pollution there is today. We all have to do our part to fight against plastic pollution.
I am always astonished when I go to the beach and there is litter everywhere. It’s horrible what people are doing to this planet.
This is so sad, I cant believe how many people litter and are wreaking the planet. Its so sad, the rule is to leave the place you went better then you left it not worse.
Ugh, I hate that there is so much ocean trash. I really do hope we can learn to make less plastic and reuse as much as we can.
Plastic water bottles drive me crazy. We need to find a better way to serve water. I always pick them up and toss them when I see them.
It is so awful what people have done to our beautiful earth! I get so sad when we go to the beach and see so much garbage!
Single use plastic should be illegal! We need to stop this blatant misuse of our natural resources.
It is scary how much plastic we use as a country. There is so much more we ca do to prevent so much waste.
It’s really heartbreaking to see the world like this and it’s caused by us as well. We’re responsible for everything, especially when we travel to a different place. I think it’s important that we practice reducing waste.
This post really hits it on the head, when it comes to plastic pollution. Whenever I’m out and about, and I see some plastic lying around, I’ll pick it up.
This is such a problem! We try to reuse and recycle as much as possible in our family. My kids take a reusable water bottle to school every day.
I’m glad that people are posting about pollution, even on social media and what we could all do to help out. Traveling is awesome so long as you’re being responsible especially in places like forests and the beach. It really helps to do something that could help the environment.
There is a great display that teaches people about this problem at the Cleveland Aquarium – I love how it helped my kids see what trash and liter really does
We live in the most beautiful part of Ohio. We have Hocking Hills State Park and I hate it when I go to see the park and find where someone has discarded plastic bottles along the paths.
I am into this movement/initiative. Currently, I have my own water bottle so that I don’t need to buy bottled water and add up to plastic wastes. I hope people would be more responsible in handling their trash.
It makes me so sad to see this when I travel. What makes me more sad is when my kids see it as they will inherit this problem. Thank you.
Great post! I wish people would take this matter more serious. We all need to do our part in helping with the environment. Plastic is really killing our world especially our animals.
This is so sad to know that plastic is all over the place. I have started recycling and trying to do better for our Earth.
Plastic pollution is getting out of control. I try to recycle as much of it as I can, but You still see people throwing their trash outside their car in a parking lot – or see the garbage along the side of the road.
It’s so awful how people treat the environment. It’s so sad to see the effects its having. We reuse and recycle often and although its only a little bit, I feel better doing it.
Such a great article and important message! I was so disappointed for the same reasons by Phi Phi islands and I wrote similar things there. I avoid plastic straws and bags too, packaged foods and I use public transportation as much as possible! Thanks for raising awareness!
I find it so sad that littering is considered acceptable by anyone at all, but even more so by tourists who are visiting a destination for its beauty and yet think it’s OK to throw rubbish that both detracts from the beauty and pollutes the world. Great post to remind people that their small actions make a difference.
It breaks my heart to see beautiful green places, and rivers with crystal clear water dotted with plastic bags and water bottles floating on them. I am so glad you wrote about it, it is the basic minimum step towards responsible travel to get rid of such plastic waste. It’s an irony that as tourist we are attracted to beautiful places and then we don’t mind deteriorating their faces with the plastic waste we bring with us.
It is very important to reduce or abolish plastic waste from enviornment. During traveling i sometimes find lot of plastic waste on beaches, river and forests which is really very annoying. Using cotton bags, metal utensils or non-disposable stuff while traveling should be our motto.