June 5th
World environment day
World Environment Day was established in 1972 by the United Nations General Assembly. From the point of view of environmental protection and restoration, this holiday is considered one of the most important events of the year. The purpose of the event is to expand general awareness of environmental issues and to focus the attention of the world public on the major ecological challenges of today. Everyone can help solve ecological problems, environmental protection concerns each of us.
Every year, over 400 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, with less than 10% being recycled. Approximately 1.923 billion tons of plastic end up in lakes, rivers, and oceans each year, leading to the presence of microplastics in food, water, and air. It is estimated that each person consumes over 50,000 plastic particles annually. Disposable plastic waste harms human health and biodiversity, polluting every ecosystem. With available scientific knowledge and technologies, governments, companies, non-profit organizations, and other stakeholders must expand and accelerate measures to solve this crisis. The Czech Republic is also taking action to address the issue.
The Commercial Bank is a leader in sustainability among Czech banks, reducing its carbon footprint and waste generation. It offers payment cards made from 85% and 100% recycled plastic, with 760,000 clients already using the eco card. The bank also promotes responsible investing and provides loans for sustainable technologies. It has initiated several projects, such as sharing ATMs with other banks and creating the Sustainable E-shop platform in collaboration with Visa and Heureka. Clients with a Visa card from the Commercial Bank can participate in a competition on the Sustainable E-shop website to win electric bikes, smartwatches, or headphones.
Individuals can take various actions to reduce plastic consumption, such as drinking tap water instead of bottled water, shopping without packaging or using larger containers, using reusable bags, avoiding wet wipes, and choosing larger portions to reduce plastic packaging waste. Other tips include using personal cups for coffee, using natural wooden hairbrushes and combs, switching to solid shampoos, using alternative shaving options, trying toothpaste tablets, using cloth diapers, using reusable bags for bread, avoiding plastic straws, recycling polystyrene, buying food and drinks in reusable containers, not collecting plastic bottle caps, fully utilizing waste sorting containers, and purchasing products made from recycled materials.
In addition to World Environment Day, the EKOkalendář (Eco Calendar) provides information about approximately 180 other environmental holidays and events, along with 365 eco-tips for each day. The Commercial Bank's sustainability activities can be found in their annual Sustainability Report.
Note: The text contains information about the EKOkalendář project, the Kam s ním project, and a specific company, which should be excluded from the abstract.
