24 January 2023, Apia Samoa - Did you know that approximately 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced each year? And did you know at least 11 million tonnes of such plastics are discarded into the ocean? That’s an equivalent of one garbage truck being dumped every minute.
Did you also know that humans have produced more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic since the 1950’s and only around 9 per cent has been recycled? As the world’s population approaches 8 billion and pressures on resources increase, pollution is more extensive than ever and the need for good waste management is critical.
These facts about waste management and other environmental issues are critical public information in a bid to influence attitudes and behaviour to better manage waste. For this reason, the Secretariat of the Pacific Environment Programme (SPREP) has developed a series of quizzes designed to support children and adults alike through a virtual, fun and interactive way to learn and test their knowledge about the Pacific environment.
Each quiz will focus on a different topic and will have no more than 10 questions.
SPREP Communications and Outreach Adviser, Ms Nanette Woonton highlights the need for waste management to be a socially collective responsibility.
‘We are all impacted by waste one way or another and everyone has a role to play in addressing this challenge. To do this, the flow of public information that helps members of the public inform their decision making is a key part of our work,” she said.
“Policies and legislation are needed to support waste management activity around the globe and ideally the private sector must put in place sound waste management practices. However, individuals can take steps to manage their waste properly by practicing the 4R’s – refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle. These are basic steps one can apply to their daily routine to help keep our homes and communities free of waste.”
SPREP is encouraging you to find out more about our environment by participating in its Waste Management Quiz. Challenge your friends and family to see how much they know about Pacific invasive species.
To play the quiz, click here (Quiz Code: 3436 8987) or visit our website www.sprep.org, follow our Facebook or Twitter to receive updates on new quizzes and upcoming release dates and topics. The Waste Management Quiz will be opened for one week, closing on 31 January 2023, 5pm Samoa time.
The top five players will be announced at the end of the quiz period.
To find out more about the quiz series or other information in the article, please contact us at [email protected].