Tearfund, an international relief and development agency, is working alongside award-winning actor Tamsin Greig, David Gyasi, star of Netflix's current hit series The Diplomat, Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin, children's TV presenter Gemma Hunt and brand founder and author Liz Earle.
They are joined by environmental campaigner Laura Young, aka Less Waste Laura, and John Chweya, head of the Kenyan Waste Pickers Association, alongside others to promote Tearfund’s new Bin-go challenge in the video.
The Bin-go card includes 16 challenges which participants can complete and tick off during the month of July to cut down their plastic use and document on social media.
Laura Young, environmental influencer and Tearfund ambassador, said:
“The Bin-go challenge is a great way to cut down on unnecessary plastic waste by making small changes like going plastic free for a day, using a reusable coffee cup or by going on a litter pick. It’s something fun you can do with your family and friends, and it’s also a small way of standing in solidarity with those most at risk from plastic pollution.
“I have seen firsthand the impact single-use plastic is having on some of the world’s poorest communities. In Uganda I witnessed plastic being burnt by roadsides and the devastating impacts discarded waste was having on communities. Globally we throw away more than 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year1. That's enough to cover almost 50,000 football pitches a day2."
Some of the Bin-go challenges include:
- Buy only plastic-free fruit and veg for a week by choosing loose products in your supermarket or visiting your local greengrocer with some reusable shopping bags.
- Use your reusable water bottle instead of buying a drink in a plastic bottle. Make it a permanent switch if you can.
- Make one permanent swap to cut out single-use plastic – it could be swapping to shampoo bars, reusable shopping bags or plastic-free detergent.
Tearfund works in more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries, and every day, our partners witness the effects of plastic being dumped or burnt in backyards, on street corners and in open dumps.
“The effects of plastic waste on poor communities include making people sick, releasing toxic fumes, flooding communities and, alongside other mismanaged waste, causing up to a million deaths each year – that’s one person dying every 30 seconds.
“By taking action in our own lives, we help put pressure on companies and governments to create a world free from plastic pollution,” Laura added.
Tearfund is currently campaigning to raise awareness of the world’s first ever plastics treaty which is being negotiated by more than 150 of the world’s governments. We want to make sure the treaty brings about an end to plastic pollution and fully addresses the impacts on people living in poverty.
Tearfund is calling for the treaty to include
- Reduction: legally binding targets to reduce plastic production and scale up reuse solutions
- Recycling: universal access to waste collection and recycling
- Respect: support for waste pickers, including a just transition
- Response: mechanisms to ensure businesses and governments take action
To find out more about the Bin-go challenge log onto www.tearfund.org/rubbishbingo and document your journey on social media by using #RubbishBingo. As well as taking action in your own life, join us in calling for an end to this plastic crisis globally through our petition by logging onto www.tearfund.org/rubbish
2 This is calculated using the methodology outlined in Tearfund (2020) The Burning Question. The weight of plastic waste is converted to volume using the same ratio used by the Everyday Plastic report, which is based on plastic as it is thrown from the household and before being mechanically crushed. The size of a professional football pitch is 105 by 68 metres, and it is assumed that to cover the pitch with plastic would require a depth of 10 centimetres.
ENDS
For further information or interview requests call Jasmine Flagg on 07888 849 109 or email [email protected] or for out-of- hours media enquiries please call the Tearfund media team on 07929 339813.
Notes to editors:
Tearfund is a Christian charity that partners with churches in more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries. They tackle poverty through sustainable development, responding to disasters and challenging injustice. Tearfund believes an end to extreme poverty is possible. Tearfund is also a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee. For more information about the work of Tearfund, please visit www.tearfund.org
Background on the treaty
On 2 March 2022, at the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2) in Nairobi, a resolution was passed by UN member states giving the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) the mandate to convene an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop an international legally binding instrument (treaty) on plastic pollution with the aim of completing this work by the end of 2024 when the treaty will be ready for ratification. The first session of the INC, known as INC-1, took place from 28 November to 2 December 2022 in Uruguay, where more than 1,400 in-person and virtual delegates from 147 countries took part in the meeting, which set the foundations for the global agreement. The second session, known as INC-2, took place in Paris from May 29 to June 2. 167 member states and 343 NGOs attended. It was agreed that the INC secretariat will prepare a first draft of the treaty ahead of INC-3 which takes place in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2023. Three further INC sessions are planned for 2023 and 2024. These sessions will see governments work out the content and logistics of the plastic treaty, in order to develop and adopt a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.
