Shocking, positively shocking!

Today is World Environment Day (http://worldenvironmentday.global).

Humanity is celebrating its extraordinary achievement of creating the 8 continent: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is located in the North Pacific Ocean and extends over 1.6 million square km, almost as big as Mexico and 3 times the size of France. It is entirely composed of plastic and other waste generated by the planet’s most advanced and intelligent offspring: the human. This most sophisticated species is working hard to grow this new continent by churning out over 300 million metric tons of plastics each year, out of which 50 million plastic bottles each day!

So next time you buy drinks and food in a plastic container wrapped in a plastic bag, think again. You might meet them on a beautiful sandy beach, in the pristine waters of the sea or in the forest next door (https://globalforest.fund).

However, this is not the end of the story. As I am writing, I am sitting in and inhabiting a place which is one of the world’s top producers of waste amongst developed countries: nearly 2.6 kg per day per capita (if you don't believe me check the World Bank stats). It is hard to image this country tucked away in the mids of Europe with its squeaky-clean image, lush green pastures and snow-capped mountain tops as one of the most wasteful places on Earth.