The Himalayan Cleanup

The #plasticfreedomchallenge

Will you go a week without PLASTICS?                                                 

   #PFC - What is it?

#PlasticFreedomChallenge is a call to give up plastics, especially single use plastic for a week- August 8 to 15 to ‘beat plastic pollution’  and take another step towards sustainable lifestyle.

It is a campaign against the use and throw culture, and going plastic free is a move towards mindful consumption.

The #PFC also complements actions of the local self governance institutions and strengthens demands for corporations to take responsibility of their plastic waste.

It is also a continuation of The Himalayan Cleanup, the Brand and Waste Audits.

Why go plastic free?

The world has produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics

since large-scale production began 

in the early 1950s, of which 6.3 billion metric tons

were trashed, and all that plastic is now in 

landfills or oceans.

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A 2018 UNEP report states that ‘If current consumption

patterns and waste management practices 

continue, then by 2050 there will be around

12 billion tonnes of plastic litter in 

landfills and the environment’.

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By 2050, plastics shall outweigh all the fishes

that are found in the oceans.

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Plastic pollution is now no longer just a marine

phenomenon, and even in most protected 

mountain spaces in Switzerland, microplastics were

found in the soil.

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Microplastic have found their way through the food

chain and in water and pose a serious risk to 

human lives, as well as all life on earth.

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Closer home, our mountains are buckling under

plastic trash, the Himalayan Cleanup has revealed, 

with top 5 trashed items being multilayered plastics,

PET bottles, single use plastic items, 

other plastic items and Tetrapak.

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Every bit of plastic that has ever been is still lying

somewhere on the planet.

Who can take the challenge?

Anyone from individuals to educational institutions,

shops to hotels and restaurants,

community based organisation and workplace

communities can take this challenge of going

plastic free for a week to kickstart a sustainable

lifestyle.

Individual actions are the foundations that the #PFC is

built upon and when taken collectively,

at an institutional level makes a dramatic difference.

How can I be part of the challenge?

Its simple.

All you need to do is decide not to use the following

plastic items from

August 8 (Zero Waste Himalaya Day) to August 15 (Independence Day).

Call on your friends to take up the challenge too, and

share your journey on social media with 
#PlasticFreedomChallenge, #BreakFreefromPlastic,

#GoforZeroWaste #BeatPlasticPollution 
#ZeroWasteHimalayaPossibilities

Tag us on your photos showing how you have made the

challenge possible, and win zero waste gift hampers