World Environmental Day was just two days ago, a day of celebration for the environment. However, there is not much to celebrate in some cases, not right now at least.
Take Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, also known as the fastest growing city in the world. The air quality there is 10x below what was defined as “standard” by the World Health Organization. This city of almost seven million people is continuously growing with constructing on just about every corner in order to keep up with the estimated 1000 people moving there every day.
 
And the bad news continues…Westernized cultures are infamously known for wasting. Some discouraging details being that the United States alone discards around 50 billion water bottles a year, and is second behind China in emissions producing 6,821.8 million metric tons CO2 in 2010.  Ay!
And, the Kyoto Protocol expires at the end of this year!
Our world is so fragile and delicate we have to enjoy every bit of it while we can. Every person has a unique relationship with the environment; the person you are next to, let alone someone on the other side of the world, has a completely different experience when interacting in their social and natural environment. Multiple understandings and beliefs of the same world is a fascinating idea too, especially if you look at it from a universal perspective.
Finally, some good news…
The much anticipated Rio+20 is in 11 days, on June 20th. The Rio-20 conference will be a conversation with world leaders, thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, and Non-Governmental Organizations. They will all come together to discuss poverty, social equity, and how to protect our environment as the population continues to grow at an alarming rate.
The thought of thousands of people coming together finding solutions on issues much bigger than ourselves, fills us all with excitement. One of the innovative solutions to address the issue of waste is called the Plasticity Forum. The Plasticity Forum is a creative initiative to engage the public in addressing world problems meant to “inspire, excite, and help move the world to follow the innovative leaders who use plastic in new ways, with new solutions, helping to reduce the impact that plastic has on our environment if full life-cycle options are not implemented.”
Now aren’t you a little more cheered up?
We would love to hear one of your innovative solutions to addressing a problem you are experiencing in your world, our world.
Yours Truly,
Keith Mulvin
Global Responsibility
and Partnership Programs
