On World Environment Day, you can help end plastic pollution

When you woke up this morning, you did not breakfast on a plate of plastics — and rightly so.

- INGER ANDERSEN

Your body likely has plastic in it anyway: microplastics, which have been found in the arteries, lungs, brains, placenta and breast milk of people across the world.

We still do not know exactly what these microplastics do to our bodies, although new research is emerging all the time. We do know that we did not choose to ingest them. We do know that they do not belong there. And we do know that only ending plastic pollution will stop such plastics accumulating inside of us.

Plastics bring many benefits for humanity — in health care, in clean energy technology and much more. Plastic is a useful, durable material that has a role to play in societies and economies, including as we transition to a greener, safer world. The problem is that the way we produce, use and discard many plastics — particularly single-use and short-lived products used for convenience, not necessity — has swamped the world in pollution.

An estimated 11 million tons of plastics leak into aquatic ecosystems each year, while around 13 million tons of plastics accumulate in the soil annually. This pollution gets everywhere — from the Mariana Trench, the deepest ocean point, to Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak — and breaks down into ever smaller particles, which sneak into our bodies through food, water and even air.