Plastic pollution has reached every corner of the planet – even entering our bodies in the form of microplastics. This World Environment Day 2025, the call is clear: it’s time for collective action to tackle this global crisis. By drawing inspiration from nature and highlighting practical, real-world solutions, this year’s campaign urges individuals, organisations, industries, and governments to embrace sustainable practices that drive lasting change. With countries set to reconvene in just two months to continue negotiations on a global treaty to end plastic pollution, the momentum has never been more critical. Join the #BeatPlasticPollution movement – because together, we can build a cleaner, healthier future for all.

We’ve all seen the headlines – single-use plastics are choking our planet.

In 2024, bottled water consumption in Turkey reached approximately 11.1 billion litres—equivalent to around 22.2 billion 0.5-litre bottles—reflecting a rise driven by hotter weather and changing consumer habits, with the average person using about 130 litres of bottled water that year.

The good news? We can change this. Carry a reusable bottle. Choose filtered tap water when it’s safe. Say no to single-use plastic whenever you can. Small actions, when multiplied across millions of people, can shift the tide.

Let’s be part of the solution – because plastic bottles aren’t cool, but a cleaner planet definitely is.

Here are some simple tips and affordable swaps to reduce your plastic footprint

• Carry a reusable bottle – there are many varieties of eco friendly bottles available that are suitable for all ages.

• Say no to plastic straws

• Take a reusable coffee cup

• Avoid excessive plastic food packaging

• Carry a reusable shopping bag

“Dönüşüm seninle başlar”

“Change begins with you”

Further reading:

Sources: https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/

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The theme of World Environment Day 2024 is ‘Land Restoration, Desertification and Drought Resilience‘.

This year’s slogan is “Our Land, Our Future.” We are #GenerationRestoration.

Our Land, Our Future

Land sustains life on Earth. Farmlands, forests, grasslands, savannahs, peatlands and even
mountains provide humanity with the goods and services that make civilization possible.
Those landscapes are underpinned by aquatic ecosystems, such as oceans, rivers and
lakes, which sustain the water cycles that keep land fertile.

But the world’s ecosystems are under threat. Unsustainable patterns of production
and consumption are driving the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and
biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. More than one-fifth of the Earth’s land area,
some 2 billion hectares, is degraded.

If land degradation remains unchecked it could reduce global food productivity by 12 per
cent, causing food prices to soar by up to 30 per cent by 2040.

By joining forces, governments, businesses, civil society and individuals can give nature a helping
hand and forge a more sustainable world for generations to come.

Here are some of the ways we can all become #GenerationRestoration.

Individuals can:

Shop for sustainable and locally produced food products and beverages

Use purchasing power to support only brands that sustainably source materials

Include more soil-friendly foods in our diet, such as lentils, beans and chickpeas

10 million tonnes of food goes to waste in the UK every year. That’s as weighty as about 790,000 double-decker buses. More than 50% of our waste gets sent to landfill or burnt in incinerators. Both release planet-warming gases into the atmosphere. It’s much better to recycle and compost. Discover easy tricks and recipes for making the most of your food with the experts at Love Food Hate Waste . Here are some tips to help you reduce your food waste.

Collect kitchen waste to use as compost in gardens or balconies or contribute to
composting schemes

Bringing nature back to our cities

Cities are home to more than half of the world’s people and their environmental
impact is profound. They account for 75 per cent of global resource use, produce
more than half of global waste and generate at least 60 per cent of greenhouse gas
emissions.

As cities grow, they transform the natural world around them such as forests,
wetlands, farmlands and waterways potentially leading to droughts and land
degradation. And while cities are often referred to as concrete jungles, that does
not have to be the case.

Growing trees alongside streets can lower the maximum temperature in cities by up to 5 degrees Celsius.

Individuals can:

Plant greenery and trees on balconies, rooftops and gardens in urban areas

Volunteer time and labour and contribute to the rehabilitation of degraded
landscapes and ecosystems

Now is the time to act with solutions to create a healthy & sustainable future. Go Green Today!

Sources: World Environment Day/Friends of the Earth

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June 5 is marked by the United Nations as World Environment Day, a day set aside since 1974 to promote “worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment.”

A number of official events have been organised for this week, starting with the opening ceremony and wreath laying at Fethiye Town Square and a presentation to the winners of a competition held in schools where pupils were asked to come up with ideas for ways to hep the environment.

The highlight of the day was later in the evening when a very special boat was launched into the sea for the very first time…

“Beat Plastic Pollution”

Each World Environment Day is organized around a theme that focuses attention on a particularly pressing environmental concern. The theme for 2018, “Beat Plastic Pollution,” is a call to action for all of us to come together to combat one of the great environmental challenges of our time. The theme invites us all to consider how we can make changes in our everyday lives to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution on our natural places, our wildlife – and our own health. While plastic has many valuable uses, we have become over-reliant on single-use or disposable plastic – with severe environmental consequences.

Dünya Geridönüş – a maiden voyage

Kate and Şeref Topcu are passionate about protecting the environment and are always looking for ways to highlight and improve environmental issues. They are both an integral part of the Türkiye’yi Temiz Tut project.

Kate and Şeref are very keen to highlight the overuse of plastics, the pollution it causes and damage to the oceans and the Earth.

This years Beat Plastic Pollution theme gave them the perfect idea – to build a boat out of used plastic bottles.

And that’s just what they did…

The five metre long boat took two months to build. Everything used was either found or recycled, in total 322 1.5 litre bottles, 302 0.5 litre bottles and 330 metres of abandoned fishing wire were collected and used to build the boat.

Nothing new was used.

World Environment Day arrived, the boat, Dünya Geridönüş (World Recycling), was ready and the plan was to launch it into the sea at Şat Jetty in Çalış at sunset.

And again, that’s just what they did…

We’re going to let the photographs tell the rest of the story.

Arriving

Getting ready

The maiden voyage of Dünya Geridönüş

The boat went into the water at 19:30 to rousing cheers from the crowd who came along to watch and support.

Kaptan Yasemin was invited to be the first to take the boat out. Yasemin and her mum, Desree Sarıoğlu, both helped with the building of the boat.

Then it was Şeref’s turn. He told us he had always wanted to build a boat and this was a dream come true.

What a successful evening

Dünya Geridönüş was displayed in front of the Culture Centre in Fethiye until the end of World Environment Week.

Thanks go to

Güvens Restaurant and Carole, Nil Bar and Angelöznur, Bambu Restaurant and individual supporters for collecting bottles

Boat building helpers, Lee Leverinton, Desree Sarioğlu and her daughter Yasemin. Advice and support Richard Oldham. Plus lots of support from Kate and Şeref’s lovely friends.

A final word from Kate and Şeref

“We really want to encourage people to stop using single use plastic and adopt a more healthy caring attitude towards our Earth and environment”

This article was first published on 7 June 2018.

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