Sheffield based environmental organisation Sheffield Action on Plastic, marked Earth day on the 22nd April with a film screening of X Trillion at Showroom Cinemas.
The film follows the journey of eXXpeditions all-women crew led by Emily Penn as they sailed 3,000 miles across the North Pacific Ocean through the densest build-up of ocean plastic.
The event was hosted by Sheffield Action on Plastic, who are a local environmental organisation with a mission to work with the local community to reduce the use of single-use plastics.
Greg Hewitt, chair of Sheffield Action on Plastic, says he chose the film to “highlight just the kind of scale that accumulates in the ocean, Sheffield is somewhere that is nowhere near the sea so putting a film on that can highlight the message of the environmental impact of plastic is really important to us.”
Earth Day is celebrated annually to display global support initiatives that support environmental protection and to raise awareness of the global issues facing the world and locally.
Hewitt said the “day is really important because it helps to shine a light on the environmental issues that are facing us, today we have a climate and biodiversity nature crisis threatening us so Earth Day is all about honouring and appreciating the earth we have.”
He stressed how important it is for cities like Sheffield to actively celebrate Earth Day. Local authorities are already concerned with nature and the climate crisis so “it was important for Sheffield to highlight this, and I thought it was something the council should be promoting as well.”
However, it’s clear more could have been done. “There was definitely a lot more that could be done to shout about Earth Day and raise awareness.”
”Everyone in Sheffield, any of the key players in Sheffield should be utilising these days of action to be able to highlight the importance of raising awareness about the climate and nature crisis and what can be done about it”
If you’re interested in learning more about these issues and events that Sheffield Action on Plastic have coming up, check out their website: Sheffield Action on Plastic – Working with the Sheffield community to reduce single-use plastics
Image Credits of eXXpedition: Eleanor Church/ X Trillion Film