A day to celebrate sustainability
World Environment Day 2025 puts the focus on the dangers of plastic pollution.
Seniors were ahead of the recycling curve
As Connect reported last week, NSA’s Research Team asked seniors about assumptions people made that really [bleeped] them off.
Some of their responses in the report referred to the environment and recycling.
Among things that [bleeped] survey respondents off, were:
“Baby boomers are accused of ruining the planet. We used to conserve things much more than the following generations. Our mistake was inventing things that enabled the last two generations the ability to be lazy and entitled.”
“The assumption that some young people have that they ‘invented’ recycling. As older people we recycled from the time we were born so it certainly is not new to us.”
Another comment we received that didn't make the report:
“That we never recycled anything before the current crop of younger ones thought of it. We had paper shopping bags, glass bottles that were taken back for a deposit return, etc. Things were made to last.”
Held annually on 5 June, World Environment Day is a global initiative led by the United Nations to encourage awareness and action for the protection of our environment.
Since its inception in 1973, the day has become a platform for nations to showcase their efforts toward environmental conservation.
In 2025, the host country is the Republic of Korea and the theme will be “beat plastic pollution”.
World Environment Day will spotlight the growing scientific evidence on the impacts of discarded plastic and drive momentum to refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rethink plastics use. It reinforces the global commitment made at the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi in 2022 to end plastic pollution.
Plastic pollution extends beyond obvious things such as the discarded drink bottles littering our streets to the ubiquity of microplastics that have spread to our food, our drinking water, and even into our own bodies.
Across Australia, a wide range of events, clean-up campaigns, educational initiatives, and community-led sustainability projects are being held to mark the occasion.
Local councils, schools, environmental organisations, and Indigenous communities will be at the forefront of the day’s activities. Many of the events around the globe are listed on an interactive map here.
Schools across Australia will be celebrating the day with “nude food” events, where children are encouraged to bring lunches packed in reuseable containers so there is no waste.
If you’re in Sydney, a practical workshop on low-waste living will be held at Dougherty Community Centre in Chatswood, on 5 June from 10am. Details here.
In Brisbane, on Sunday, 8 June, from 9am-1pm there will be a native wildlife show, inspection tour, kids’ activities, and a sausage sizzle at Rainbow Lorikeet Park in Aspley. Details here.
If you want some ideas for activities to mark the event with your family or club, click here.
World Environment Day in Australia serves not just as a celebration, but as a reminder of the environmental challenges the country faces, from bushfires and droughts to declining biodiversity. Yet it also offers hope, as communities unite to create a more sustainable future.
By participating in local events or making small changes in our own homes, we have the opportunity to contribute to a better future. It’s all about protecting the environment for generations to come.
Related reading: UN Environment Project
