Why is this important?

Firstly, our world has been handling a waste crisis for some time now. According to researches conducted by the World Bank, the world generates at least 3.5 million tons of plastic and other solid waste a day, 10 times the amount it did a century ago. Moreover, researchers estimate that more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced since the early 1950s and about 60% of that plastic has ended up in either a landfill or the natural environment, as stated by the United Nations.

And even though we may think that these facts do not affect us personally, they have several consequences for the environment everywhere. The global waste trade, for example, consists of developed countries selling their toxic and hazardous wastes - mainly electronics - to poorer developing countries, such as Ghana. About 64 million people are directly affected by dumpsites created by this trade. Furthermore, one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed each year as a result of plastic in our oceans, as claimed by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Therefore, the only possible conclusion we can take from the data presented is this: our planet needs our help - now.