On the 26th of September 2024, Ciel & Terre International teams enjoyed participating to the world clean-up day once again. We are delighted to share with you that is our fifth edition! It’s been 5 years since our first contribution, and we are still as enthusiastic to be involved in this mobilisation.
WHAT IMPACT DOES WASTE HAVE ON THE ENVIRONMENT?
As you might know plastic is one of the world’s major sources of pollution in terms of waste. It’s everywhere (packaging, plastic bottles, bags…). However, despite its many advantages (designed to last, convenient…) it’s a curse for flora and fauna.
Did you know that when wastes are dumped on the ground or in the ocean, it can take years to break down? On the one hand, for the plastic objects including the cigarette filters (composed of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic), it can take from 20 years to 1000 years to decompose. Cigarette butts, on the other hand, take two years to decompose without the filter, yet the chemicals they contain are a plague on flora and fauna. This type of waste has a direct impact on the global warming and the carbon footprint.
HOW DOES LITTER AFFECT THE FLORA?
The presence of litter can directly contribute to the soil and atmosphere pollution. For instance, cigarette butts contain several chemicals that can cause many issues for the fauna. In fact, those chemicals infect the soil and reduce or slow down the growth of the plants.However, this is not the only issue, when cigarette butts are thrown into forest, they can cause wildfire and, consequently, the extinction of plant species.
WHAT ARE THE GARBAGE ISSUES ON THE FAUNA?
Have you ever heard about the eighth continent? Due to plastic pollution, the Great Pacific Ocean is the biggest waste repository where we find the biggest plastic island representing 1.8 billion pieces of plastic garbage. Many animals have died from plastic pollution, whether on land or in the ocean. For example, marine animals are being killed by the plastic substances, the cause of their death usually being the ingestion of indigestible plastic, which causes inflammation and unable to heal . The damage caused by plastic and its degradation in the oceans is unfortunately all too numerous and is having an ever-increasing impact on our ecosystem.
WHY DO WE NEED A WORLD CLEAN-UP DAY?
Why do we have to organise the clean-up walk, you may ask? Unfortunately, there are still too many people who are unaware of the impact of a simple cigarette butt on our ecosystems. So, for as long as it’s necessary, we’ll be taking part in this worldwide clean-up action. The aim is twofold: firstly, to make our environment cleaner, and secondly, to bring greater visibility to the environmental cause, by concentrating our efforts over a single period. At the end, we all leave with the feeling of having contributed to the improvement of our world and to the preservation of flora and fauna.
BUT WHAT IS THE CONCEPT OF A WORLD CLEAN-UP DAY?
A clean-up walk, is a simple yet effective way to reduce our impact on the environment, where volunteers gather to collect litter from public spaces such as parks, lakes, beaches, forests, streets … To contribute to it, you only need a few things:
- Gloves
- Garbage bags
- Pick-up clamps
- Safety vest.
This initiative was born in Estonia 15 years ago thanks to the motivation of Rainer Nõlvak. He is the initiator of the Let’s Do It! World movement and has allowed its spread around the world over the past years.
THE MOBILISATION OF ALL CIEL & TERREANS WORLDWIDE
For the fifth edition, we have improved the way we involve the group’s subsidiaries. Our offices in France and in the United States organised a clean-up nearby their buildings . As for our other offices in Japan and Taiwan, it is difficult to organise a clean-up walk because the countries are already clean, so there’s no garbage on the streets or in the surrounding area, and we appreciate it.
OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS AT CIEL & TERRE INTERNATIONAL
It is good to know that when someone joins the Ciel & Terre teams, they receive a welcome kit that includes a reusable water bottle, a recyclable pen and a notebook and as well as apparel for business trips.
For Ciel & Terre International, the environmental aspect is crucial for all our teams around the world. Indeed, we work every day to preserve our ecosystem, to do so we had set up several waste bins in our French office to facilitate the recycling of various types of waste. We have also installed a compost bin in the garden to reuse our compost for the benefit of flora.
DO YOU WANT TO REDUCE YOUR IMPACT TOO?
If you are still interested in our daily actions, please have a look at our article “Our teams tips!” to learn more about Ciel & Terreans tips and tricks to achieve zero waste.
Let’s Do it! World is a non-governmental organisation and an accredited member of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The foundation is behind the World Cleanup Day movement and encourages individuals and businesses to take these initiatives to the local level.
