Earth Day: Ministry stops use of plastic bottles

Minister urges public to shun use of plastic to avoid pollution, damaging environment

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Friday while commemorating World Earth Day 2022 announced that the Ministry of Climate Change had abolished the use of plastic bottles in its premises to ensure eco-friendly change.

The minister in a series of tweets on her official Twitter handle shared an infographic depicting forests and oceans as lungs of the planet bearing the inscription "Our Planet has two lungs one is green the other is blue" along with her message in the tweet on the World Earth Day.

Read  On Earth Day, climate activists set to rally against fossil fuels

The theme for this year is ‘let’s invest in our planet’. She urged the masses to shun the use of plastics to avoid pollution damaging the environment and biodiversity while taking the lead in climate action by themselves. " 'Our planet has two lungs; one is green, the other is blue'. Let both breathe, so we can too. Save the planet by removing non-renewable plastic from your day, your life. Make the shift at your office, at your home. From today the Climate Change Ministry will use no plastic bottles", she wrote in her tweet.

She further mentioned, "There are no plastic bottles in daily use in my home or my Senate office. Let's lead by example. Small steps by many will make the difference." She said it would be great if others could make the effort to shift, adding, "The planet needs saving". She also thanked the social media user for sending her the infographic. "Thank you for sending me this powerful graphic, whomever you are". The Minister's tweets were followed by the hashtags #EarthDay2022 #LetTheEarthBreath.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2022.