International Plastic Bag Free Day 2022: History, significance, all about celebrating the day on July 3

International Plastic Bag Free Day is celebrated on July 3 all over the world with an aim to encourage countries to ban single-use plastic.

Single-use plastics are plastic products that are discarded after one-time usage and cannot be recycled. India has imposed strict ban on single-use plastics starting July 1. Single-use plastic items include plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles and most food packaging.

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History of International Plastic Bag Free Day

According to National Today, International Plastic Bag Free Day is an initiative by Bag Free World. The Great Plastic Patch was discovered in the ocean in 1997. Thereafter, people across the globe started discussing the ill effects of using plastics in everyday life.

In 2002, Bangladesh became the first nation to ban plastics. The country imposed single-use plastic ban after it was highlighted that plastics clogged up storm drains thereby worsening floods. The piling of plastic waste was also cited as a reason for waterlogging in the country.

Significance of International Plastic Bag Free Day

The main aim of International Plastic Bag Free Day is to create awareness about the harm that we are causing to our environment by continuous use of single-use plastics.

Items made out of single-use plastics contaminate our water bodies. Spilling plastics into rivers, oceans and seas poses huge threat to the marine life. Many aquatic animals die because of eating micro plastics which are thrown in water bodies by humans.

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It is important to note that humans produce roughly 300 million tons of plastic each year, most of which cannot be recycled. World-wide only 10-13% of plastic items are recycled. Moreover, the process of recycling plastics is complicated.

Many countries including India, Bangladesh, China, Rwanda, Italy have now banned single-use plastics in order to prevent further plastic pollution.